Oxymorons
by mynamesnottuna
Summary: Humanstuck au. Sollux Captor was your average office junkie working for a large corporation, as his last attempt at keeping his life together. Eridan Ampora was your average art school drop out working for his father's corporation, as his last attempt at keeping his life together. However, neither are quite aware of how impossible those goals are.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Alright so this is my first time writing a fanfic. There's going to be more than one chapter, I promise. Lemme know what you think and all of that jazz.

~Tuna

Sollux leaned back against the large computer chair. He had been up since midnight coding these stupid viruses. Really, they were useless. He doubted any of the hacking he had done would be approved by Karkat when he looked them over.

It had been like this all week. Karkat would pay him to come up with protection against some new kind of virus, or some hacking job, and once he did just that, he was forced to start all over again. He tried explaining to Karkat that hacking and coding was a very serious business that was not to be taken lightly.

Instead of receiving a somewhat understanding response like he'd hoped for, Karkat had simply shouted, "I DON'T GIVE A FUCK. I'M PAYING YOU FOR A FUCKING REASON."

In Sollux's opinion, Karkat was a total asshole.

The door to the office slammed open, revealing a very tired looking Karkat. His usual all-over-the-place hairstyle was even worse, sticking up in all directions today. His eyes were lined with bags from lack of sleep, and his face was pale.

He ambled into the room, simultaneously trying to balance coffee in one hand and paperwork in another. "Hey, Fuckass," Karkat greeted.

Sollux knew anyone who didn't know Karkat would be offended. They might even claim Karkat was harassing them. However, that was simply Karkat's personality. They were both office junkies in a software company, and were most likely going to stay that way for a while. They regularly insulted each other, fucked up the other's work, and gossiped about the other co-workers like two old women at bingo.

Sollux considered themselves pretty good friends. And, for Sollux, that was a lot. He hated almost everyone; just like Karkat.

"Hey, KK. You look terrible. Thtay up all night?" Sollux asked. His lisp slid out every time he voiced an 'S' sound, something he found kind of embarrassing. He never quite managed to correct it.

Karkat glared at Sollux as he raised a coffee mug to his lips. "Fucking Ampora kept me up all night. He says his fucking son is supposed to be interning here, learning the shitty ropes or whatever," Karkat growled, referring to their higher power, and boss.

If asked, Sollux couldn't tell someone the first name of his boss. He never met the guy, and never bothered trying to meet him. From what Karkat told him, Ampora was an asshole. Karkat most likely knew Ampora's real name, but he had this weird thing with calling everyone by their last name.

"Ampora hath a thon?" Sollux asked incredulously. He never lifted his eyes off the computer screen as he spoke. His hands continued flying across the keyboard almost effortlessly.

Karkat opened his mouth, most likely to cuss out the boss and his good-for-nothing son. However, he was cut short when the main door to the office flew open.

Sollux assumed this was his boss. He was tall and muscled, obviously not trying to be modest in any way from the tight suit he wore. His black hair was slicked back from his face in a mafia kind of style. His eyebrows arched over dark blue eyes that were framed with long black lashes. He screamed 'major asshole'.

Next to his boss stood an almost exact replica; only slightly smaller. The large difference between the two was the streak of bright purple in his slicked back hair. It stuck up partially, drawing the attention of anyone within a mile radius. His choice of clothes was rather odd. He wore black pants with blue pin stripes, and a black t shirt to match. Around his neck he wore a blue and black striped scarf; something Sollux found as an extremely odd accessory for the summer. His eyes were framed with thick black glasses and almost the exact same color as his father's. Sollux couldn't exactly tell what the color was from this far away, but he was sure he saw a hint of purple.

His boss pushed his replica forward into the office. "This is v-where you'll be v-working for the first couple o' months," he said. His voice sounded deep and gravelly, like the voice of a past smoker.

Karkat scowled at the two of them. "Months?" he asked loudly. "You didn't say he was going to be here that fucking long, Ampora."

Ampora looked over to Karkat with an un-amused expression. "You don't shouldn't even care, w-Vantas. Captor is going to be training him."

Sollux looked up at the sound of his name. This was definitely news to him; very bad news. "What?" he asked.

His boss sent him a stern look. "Yeah," he said shortly. "Chief here is into programmin'. It's nothin' interesting if you ask me."

Before Sollux could respond, Karkat had let out a snort of laughter. "What kind of name is Chief?" he snickered.

"I'm not Chief," Ampora's son snapped. "He calls evveryone that."

Sollux had to hide the smirk that slid across his face. The younger Ampora had a strange accent, just like his father. He was so full of it.

Karkat sent the young Ampora a skeptical look. "Oh really? Then what the fuck is your name," he asked.

The wannabe-hipster crossed his arms defensively. "I'm Eridan," he said proudly.

The boss waved a hand in the direction of the two office junkies. "Sollux Captor, and Karkat W-vantas," he introduced.

Sollux had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. This guy was definitely a joke. No way was his actual name Eridan. He probably changed it just to sound more important.

Ampora motioned Eridan over to the small area where Sollux sat. Eridan strode over to one of the plush red chairs and sat down. He had a very sassy walk to him; almost as if he were flaunting something he thought he had. His eyes roamed over the mess of papers on Sollux's desk. He scrunched his nose in disgust and crossed his legs in an extremely girly fashion.

_Oh great he's gay,_ Sollux thought tiredly.

He didn't have any issues with homosexuality. His issues were with the stereotypical girly homosexuals; the ones that were clean freaks and bossy. Eridan Ampora seemed like the exact thing he hated.

"Do you evver clean?" Eridan asked.

Sollux was tempted to pretend he hadn't heard the pompous jerk and continue his coding. He tensed his shoulders and turned to face Eridan. "Thatth not my job," he grumbled. "We have cuthtodianth for cleaning."

Eridan smirked at the sound of Sollux's voice. He immediately picked up on the lisp from the programmer. "What?" he asked mockingly.

Sollux's hands clenched. He was not going to put up with a pompous jerk.

Ampora must have noticed the tension between the two. "Captor, just so you know, you'll be giv-wen a ten percent raise by taking him on," he added.

He didn't wait for Sollux to give a response. Ampora turned on his heel and strode out of the office with the same flaunting walk as his son. He disappeared behind the frost glass, most likely heading for the executive floor where he worked.

Sollux turned to Eridan, a tight smile stretched across his face. He was going to try and be nice, he decided. He was going to take on the asshole and show him how to code and program different softwares. He was going to try and be as civil as ever toward his boss's son.

And it most definitely wasn't for that oh-so-generous ten percent raise. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

Eridan didn't do much for the first few hours. He ignored most of Sollux's attempts at teaching him anything. He would brush off questions and any type of conversation. For an hour, Eridan sat there is his red chair, tapping his hands on the armrests of the chair.

Sollux had no problem tuning out the jerk. He zoned out as he coded, his mind getting lost in the labyrinth of symbols and letters.

Unfortunately, though, Karkat was unable to tune out the incessant noise. He yelled and shouted quite a few times at Eridan, even threatening to choke the guy with his own scarf. Eventually Karkat realized Eridan wasn't going to cut it out. He stood up abruptly and stomped out of the room, muttering something under his breath about lunch.

Sollux heard Eridan let out a loud sigh after the door had closed. He didn't suspect anything of it; Eridan had been making annoying sounds and sighing all morning long. He distantly heard Eridan's chair squeak, as if he had shifted positions.

"Howw old are you?"

Eridan's voice, dangerously close to Sollux's ear, made him leap about three feet in the air. He clamped a hand over his chest, his breath coming out in quick and short pants. He swore he almost had a heart attack.

"What the fuck ith _wrong_ with you?" he breathed out angrily. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest from the fright he'd been given.

Eridan ignored him and sat back, but dragged his chair closer to Sollux. "Howw old?" he repeated.

"Twenty. Why do you care?" he asked skeptically. He had moved his hands back to the keyboard. He tried to calm himself down enough to resume typing again.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the wide smirk on Eridan's face. "What?" he asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.

Eridan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. A triumphant look slid across his face. "I'm older than you," he declared.

Sollux scowled at him. He felt irritation quickly bubbling to the surface. "What doeth that have to do with anything?" he snapped. He turned back to his computer, his fingers smashing furiously onto the keyboard.

If anyone heard him typing, they'd think it was Karkat instead of him.

"So that mean I wwould top," Eridan said.

Sollux felt his hands freeze over the keyboard. He couldn't have heard that correctly. He glanced back at Eridan with a skeptical gaze. His red and blue glass-covered eyes met the dark purple ones.

"What?" was his clever response.

Eridan rolled his eyes. "I'm older, so I wwould top," he repeated.

"Top in what?"

"Whenever we fu-"

Eridan didn't have a chance to finish as Sollux slammed him in the face with his bumblebee paperweight. Eridan flew backwards, hands clamping onto his nose to ease the pain. His face was twisted in pain, his eyes clenched shut tightly.

"Fuck!" Eridan hissed.

He pulled his hands away from his face, observing his hands carefully. Fortunately for him, Sollux hadn't hit him hard enough to draw blood. However, there was definitely going to be a bruise. He glanced up at Sollux incredulously. "You just fuckin' hit me," he said.

Sollux crossed his arms amusedly. "Your obthervation thkills are great," he noted sarcastically.

Eridan grabbed a frozen water bottle from the blue mini fridge against the left wall and then returned to his seat. He pressed the makeshift ice-pack to his nose. He let out a hiss of pain as it made contact.

"Wwhy did you do that? It fucking hurts," he hissed.

Sollux couldn't believe this. "You were jutht talking about uth… um… doing thingth. Grothth," he stammered, trying to cover up his stuttering.

Eridan grinned at Sollux. "But I wwas telling the truth!" he objected. He set down the water bottle. "I wwould top."

When he wasn't given a response from the hacker, he continued. "Are you too shy to talk about that stuff?" he asked teasingly. "That's pretty fuckin' cute."

Sollux lifted his paperweight threateningly at Eridan. He caused Eridan to shrink back slightly at the sight of the menacing bumblebee. "I will uthe thith."

Eridan held up his hands in mock surrender. However, this was all Sollux needed to return back to his work. He was sure Eridan wouldn't try anything now; especially with his bruised nose.

His hands flew effortlessly over the keys, a distinct clicking and tapping resonating throughout the office. He felt his sporadic heart rate calm and his labored breathing even out. Coding was like his daily fix; he was addicted to it. It could solve any problem, get rid of any unwanted emotions.

He really was lucky to be getting paid for doing something he loved so much.

Just when Sollux thought he was about to pass into a complete trance and finish all of his work undisturbed, a groan of annoyance erupted from behind him. He glanced over his shoulder at the slumped figure in the desk chair with a scowl.

"Can you shut up?" he hissed. His fingers never ceased their tapping on the keys, magically knowing where to press and what to type.

Eridan flicked a few strands of his purple streak of hair out of his eyes. He leaned back in his desk chair, the frozen water bottle tossed carelessly beside him. "Wwhy are you always so cranky?" he teased.

"I'm not cranky," Sollux snapped. He glowered at Eridan threateningly. "I jutht can't thtand thtupid bratth that think they own the plathe," he added. His lisp had a tendency of worsening whenever he became frustrated.

Maybe he was taking a large leap of faith by insulting the boss's kid like that. However, if someone didn't put the twerp in his place, who would? In his mind, Sollux was doing a good deed to world.

_Fighting viruses and saving the world from assholes, my specialty._

Instead of getting offended like Sollux had expected, Eridan simply smirked at him widely. "But I do owwn the place," he pointed out.

Sollux decided he wasn't going to bother that stupid comment with a response. He had work to be done. His work day was almost over, and he still had a lot of coding to finish if he wanted to get out of this hellhole by 6:30.

He resumed his typing. Within minutes he found himself drifting off into his own little world. That was one thing he could love about his work; no interruptions and freedom to daydream as much as he wanted. It wasn't a surprise he hated people. If liked people, he most definitely wouldn't have chosen a desk job.

It was around seven when he sat back in his chair with a tired expression. He felt as if he were about to collapse on the spot. He'd had nothing to eat since midnight, and had been working non-stop. Normally, he wouldn't be so bothered by the long work hours and lack of food. He usually forgot to eat even when he was home; often getting caught up with whatever he was doing on the computer. He would probably be extremely overweight if he remembered to eat, he thought amusedly.

He stood up from his desk, a loud crack resonating from his back. He glanced around his work station, wondering where the stupid brat was. He hadn't heard so much as one peep from the purple-haired man since Karkat returned from lunch break.

Low murmured voices could be heard down the hall. Sollux headed toward them curiously. He peered around the wall of his small cubicle and stopped as his eyes landed on the source of the two voices.

Karkat was leaning against the water cooler with his arms crossed. His signature glare was set onto his face and turned upwards toward the taller figure in front of him. The bags under his eyes were more prominent than they were this morning. "I don't understand why you don't just ask him out, fuckass," he snapped.

The figure in front of him tugged on the scarf, they're annoying voice following. "Howw am I supposed to do that?" Eridan flipped a strand of purple hair back and placed his hands on his hips.

Karkat opened his mouth to respond, with what Sollux assumed was another string of curse words involving "fuck", and fell short. His eyes looked past Eridan's shoulders and locked with Sollux's. He let out a huff of annoyance and shoved past the wannabe hipster. "Whatever, dumbass," he growled. "I'm going home to get some fucking sleep."

He snatched a red jacket off the back of his chair and stormed out through the office door. Sollux and Eridan were the only two left in the office now. Everyone normally headed home around 5:30.

Sollux made to turn around and leave, deciding he'd had enough of work for one day. He paused when Eridan's voice sounded over to him. "Hey, Sol," he called.

Sollux froze and looked over his shoulder toward him. "What?" he asked. He felt annoyance bubble up inside him. Even Karkat hadn't given him a nickname and they were pretty good friends. The wannabe hipster strode over him. He stopped in front of Sollux, a little too close for comfort.

It was the first time Sollux noticed how tall the guy actually was. Eridan had to be pushing on 6'5'', easily. It made him feel as he were no match with his own 5'10'' height. Sollux also hated himself for noticing how nice the other's eyes were. They were a beautiful purple color mixed with what seemed like a hint of blue. The eyes were framed with thick bambi lashes; and to top it all off, framed with thick hipster glasses.

_He's actually kind of attractive,_ Sollux thought in awe.

It made him sick.

Realizing that he was attractive only gave Sollux the urge to punch Eridan even more.

Sollux peered up at Eridan with a look of distaste. He was trying to hide the fact that he had forgotten Eridan was speaking. "What did you jutht thay?" he asked.

Eridan paused mid-sentence. A frustrated sigh ripped through him. "You wweren't listening at all, wwere you?" he asked, annoyance plain on his face. He continued whenever he got no response from Sollux. "Wwell, I wwas just saying that I wwas wwondering if you wanted a ride home, an' maybe to go out to dinner?"

Sollux felt his jaw hit the floor in shock. He blinked at Eridan a few times, his brain still not quite registering what was happening.

Did the biggest asshole on earth just ask him to dinner? Him, of all people?

Sollux straightened himself up. He glared at Eridan and decided he wasn't failing some ridiculous test this asshole was putting onto him. He knew there was no way someone like Eridan would ask out an office junkie to dinner, and he most certainly knew that the asshole wasn't able to look past Goodwill jeans and Walmart t-shirts.

"Do you think I'm thome kind of idiot?" he hissed. "I can thee right through your thtupid gameth and I am not falling for it," he snapped. He turned on his heel and moved back into his cubicle. He quickly began packing up his belongings in a hurry to leave.

He was definitely ticked now. He was done dealing with Eridan, and he was insulted that he was being messed with. He'd put up with enough of that in highschool; he didn't need any of that now.

Lost in his thoughts, it took a moment for Sollux to realize an arm had snaked its way around his waist. The grip tightened and pulled his back against a hard flat surface that most likely belonged to the owner of the arm.

He glanced behind his shoulder and noticed the familiar striped blue scarf wrapped around his attacker's neck.

"So you think I'm playing wwith you, Sol?" Eridan's voice was low and quiet, taking on a whole different tone from his usual voice. His breath fanned over Sollux's ear and caused a shiver of pleasure to wrack through his body.

_Damn his voice is sexy,_ he thought absently.

_No shut up. It's sickening._

_He smells good though._

Sollux squirmed in Eridan's grip. He didn't care how good the other smelled, or how attractive his voice sounded. This was Eridan, the boss's ungrateful spoiled brat, and a selfishly pompous asshole who thought he could boss other people around. No way would that ever change.

"Let go, aththhole," Sollux hissed. He yanked his shoulders forward and hoped it might loosen Eridan's grip, if only a little.

It didn't. Eridan tightened his hold around Sollux's waist and pulled him back against his chest. He leaned forward, his lips barely brushing Sollux's ear. "Not until you say yes," he murmured.

Sollux found it hard to think. He wasn't used to anything like this. He wasn't used to touching people in general. Usually, he avoided all contact with others. Sometimes he even ordered groceries online just to avoid having to exchange awful small talk at the supermarket.

Needless to say, Eridan was causing Sollux's thoughts and senses to go spiraling out of control.

"Yeth to what?" Sollux stammered out.

Eridan's chuckle reverberated from his chest and through Sollux. He liked seeing the hacker getting all flustered. It was actually kind of cute. "To goin' on a date wwith me."

Sollux felt his face heating up as Eridan's other arm wrapped around him. "No, aththhole. I thaid I wathnt falling for your thtupid gameth," he snapped.

Eridan trailed his hands a bit lower on Sollux's waist, pausing at the button of his jeans. "C'mon, Sol. I'm only askin' for dinner." He tilted his head upwards and grasped Sollux's earlobe between his teeth. "Maybe a little more."

Sollux couldn't form a coherent thought at this point. He knew he had to make a move, and quick, before he ended up getting fired. The majority of him knew this had to be some sort of test. Maybe Ampora was trying to see if worker's actually listened to the "No relationships in the workplace" rule.

_That had to be it_, he decided.

In one last desperate attempt at keeping his job, Sollux snatched up the bumblebee paper weight once more and slammed in into Eridan's face. This time he didn't pause to see if the wannabe was okay. He simply snatched up his belongings and scurried out of the office door, ignoring the loud string of curse words from behind him.

Within seconds, he found himself fumbling with his car keys to unlock the door to his old beat up car. He slid into the driver's seat and slammed the door behind him. A loud slam echoed through the empty garage.

As he started up the car, he paused. Sollux glanced down at his crotch and almost groaned in frustration. If he had waited any longer in there, he definitely would have been fired.

His pants were unzipped and unbuttoned, barely sitting on his waist.

_That fucking asshole_.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Alrighty, so I decided to upload another chapter finally. Enjoy and lemme know what you think?

~Tuna

* * *

It wasn't until Sollux was home that he realized what had happened. For a moment he stood in front of the closed door of his apartment with a dazed look on his face. His eyes stared forward into the darkened apartment, but he knew he saw nothing. His thoughts were too busy chasing each other in constant circles.

_Did I really just hit the boss's kid in the face with a bumblebee paperweight? _

His older brother had given it to him as a birthday present whenever he'd first gotten his job at Ampora Co. Honestly, he didn't know what he'd ever use a paperweight for, considering he worked with computers and not papers. He remembered having debated throwing the stupid thing away quite a few times, but never got around to it.

It turns out that stupid paperweight could have possibly just saved his job.

_I had every right to hit the dickface. He was molesting me,_ Sollux reasoned. He peeled off his jacket and tossed it onto the back of the couch. He paused as a sudden feeling of dread settled into his stomache.

_Who am I kidding? I'm so fired once that brat goes and tells his dad I smashed his face in._

Sollux raked a hand through his hair in frustration. He didn't know what to think. Part of him wondered why Eridan would even bother trying to get him fired in the first place. Sollux had never caused any trouble. He was a good and obedient office junkie that sat in his cubicle and typed in codes all day long. He never missed a day of work and almost never called off sick. He didn't go outside enough to get sick.

He decided he didn't want to think about it. Whatever Eridan's reasons for suddenly trying to unbutton his pants, he wanted no part of it.

Sollux found himself automatically flipping on the tea kettle as he passed by the stove. He snatched a bottle of honey out of the cupboard and set it down on the counter. Within minutes he found himself munching on a piece of toast and sipping his tea quietly inside of his small kitchen.

Karkat usually accused him of being antisocial and a hermit. He always criticized Sollux about not ever going out anywhere and always deciding to stay home. He always claimed that Sollux had no friends.

_Maybe he's right_, Sollux thought bitterly.

He pushed the piece of toast away from him, suddenly losing his appetite. It was always like this whenever he was home. He became moody and acted like some teenage girl on their period. All of his emotions and troublesome thoughts would come crashing down on him like one giant wave. He hated thinking he was alone. He hated thinking that he never had any friends. He hated thinking that he wasn't going to be remembered as anything other than "sarcastic-guy-who-coded-and-didn't-have-a-life."

He hated admitting that it was all true.

Deciding to stop wallowing in self-pity, Sollux threw away his toast and ambled over to his laptop. He was about to open it and begin coding for some other website before a small beep echoed throughout the room.

He paused, a bit surprised at the sound of his phone going off. He turned on his heel and headed toward the direction of the kitchen.

Snatching up the brightly lit phone, he squinted against the harsh light as his eyes attempted to adjust.

It was an unknown number. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had texted him, and he definitely it wasn't Karkat. Karkat didn't go out unless it was Saturday. He opened the text and read over it quickly.

_Hey, sol. Are you goin to apologize for hittin me or wwhat?_

Sollux re-read the message few times. He had no idea who would text him. He wasn't even acquainted with anyone besides his brother and Karkat. He wasn't even sure if his brother was capable of using a phone, either.

His eyes scanned back over the message. Everything hit him in the face as if he were being run over by a train. _"Sol"_. What asshole did he know that called him Sol?

_How did you get my number? _

He sent the message and tossed the phone onto the counter. That asshole had no business harassing him outside the workplace. He could sue, or possibly even file for a restraining order. Then they'd just see how close Eridan would get to unbuttoning his pants.

His phone beeping brought him out of his mini-rant.

_Kar gavve it to me. Wwhat are you doin?_

Sollux had to fight back the scoff that threatened to rip past his lips. Not only did the jerk talk weird, but also wrote with some kind of speech impediment. He must be really full of himself if he thinks something like that is attractive, Sollux decided.

_None of your business. Why are you typing like that?_

He couldn't help himself. Part of him knew he shouldn't even bother responding to Eridan's stupid attempts at conversation, but the other part was really curious for once.

No one had ever taken an interest in him before. Not even Karkat.

Usually he had to push himself onto to others if he wanted to enter a basic mutual conversation. He wasn't much to look at; girls weren't ever asking for his number. Heck, even guys avoided him. Back in high school, if he had wanted friends he had to do their homework or help them cheat on tests.

No one had ever harassed him the way Eridan did. In a way, he found it a bit endearing.

Even if the person taking an interest in him was a complete and utter asshole, he found it somewhat comforting.

_I'm an aquarius. Ww's an vv's are my typing quirk. It's so ya knoww wwhen youre talkin to me and not some imposter._

Sollux rolled his eyes in annoyance. Even when he wasn't face to face with the guy, the wannabe hipster still managed to sound pompous.

_You're really full of yourself. It's sickening. _

He couldn't stop himself from pressing send. He knew he just had to throw in that little sarcastic comment, and he partially scolded himself for sassing his boss's kid. He could definitely be fired if he pissed Eridan off too much.

_So kar tells me youre a Gemini. You knoww that means wwe're compatible right?_

_I don't see what that has to do with anything,_ Sollux typed back quickly. He was becoming more and more frustrated with each passing second.

_So say yes to goin on a date wwith me._

Sollux slammed his phone shut and tossed it across the room. Thankfully the expensive smart phone landed on a pile of blankets waiting to be taken to the laundry matt. He didn't have to put up with Eridan's bullshit. He already had to work with the pompous asshole. He didn't, however, have to deal with him outside of work whatsoever.

He sat back down onto the small couch and pulled the tiny laptop into his lap. Within moments he was back to doing the one thing he loved most; coding. Granted, some of the coding he did could be classified as "hacking", but any way to help pick up money on the side helped pay for his rent.

Sollux felt his eyelids drooping slowly as he worked. It was almost an hour before he finally succumbed to exhaustion.

The next morning Sollux made his way into the office fifteen minutes late. He clutched onto a travel mug, filled to the brim with coffee, for dear life. He slid quietly into his cubicle and set down his messenger bag beside his chair.

His alarm had forgotten to go off this morning. Instead of going off at seven, like he had intended, the stupid thing had gone off at eight. He knew his hair was most likely sticking up in all different directions from sleeping. He hadn't had time to smooth down his hair this morning. Bags drooped under his eyes and his face was pale from lack of sleep.

"I thought you wweren't goin' to evven showw up, sol."

Sollux felt his eye twitch in annoyance. Not even five minutes had passed and this guy was already bothering him.

He turned his gaze on Eridan, mustering up the deadliest glare he could imagine.

Instead of being frightened, or a bit put off, a smirk slid its way across Eridan's lips. Sollux hated the fact that he noticed Eridan looked nice today. The wannabe hipster wore a pair of nice black jeans and a dark purple dress shirt. His shirt seemed to accentuate his lithe frame. The jeans hugged his hips and Sollux was sure that if the jerk turned around he'd have a difficult time keeping his eyes away from Eridan's backside.

"My alarm didn't go off on time, aththhole," Sollux snapped.

He spun back around to face his computer in an attempt at signaling the end of their conversation. Sollux logged into the computer and brought up his worksheet of the tasks he needed to accomplish for today. His eyes quickly scanned over the different specifications of the websites and appearances.

The office chair next to him squeaked loudly as Eridan plopped down. He spun to face Sollux with a teasing smirk. He scooted a bit closer to Sollux and squinted at the computer. "So are ya goin' to teach me howw to code or wwhat?" he asked.

Sollux sighed and raked a hand through his hair in frustration. He was sure his bed head was now worse. "Thure," he agreed, remembering that ten percent raise.

The next hour and a half was spent trying to teach Eridan how to properly code and read the software's initial coding.

As much as he hated to admit it, Eridan wasn't as bad at coding as Sollux had originally thought. The guy definitely could use some work, but he picked up the concept fairly quickly. Sollux would show him which code lines to put in for what changes he would want to make, and the wannabe hipster would type them in with ease. Eridan had even begun coming up with his own combinations to meet the task requirements.

Sollux also hated to admit how endearing Eridan looked. Whenever encountering a more difficult line of coding to read, his nose would scrunch up in concentration. He would lean slightly towards the computer screen; all the while tugging on a loose strand of purple hair that hadn't been gelled up and back.

It was around three when Sollux collapsed back into his chair. "I'm tired," he murmured. He brought a fist to his eye and began rubbing vigorously in an attempt at waking himself up. He stifled a yawn and glanced over to Eridan.

Eridan's dark eyes locked onto Sollux's. There was an unreadable emotion etched into his face.

_This is weird,_ Sollux thought suddenly. _Why isn't he looking away?_

Sollux recoiled a bit, but kept their eyes connected. Part of him felt as if this were some challenge; like he was being tested to see if he would back down. Another part simply wanted to decipher what exactly was going on behind those dark violet eyes.

"Are you alright?" Sollux asked skeptically.

Eridan didn't respond. He kept the same emotion in his eyes and the same passive expression plastered on his face. After a moment more, Sollux broke eye contact and leaned back in his chair again. As his back came into contact with the back of his seat, he froze.

Something was squished between his back and the chair. Something that was cold and wet was slowly seeping into the fabric of his shirt. It felt unnatural and Sollux could have sworn there was nothing there when he had rested against his seat before.

He leapt out of his chair, a yelp of surprise tearing its way past his lips. He looked over his shoulder and down his back.

The remnants of what appeared to be a slice of cake were smeared across the back of the office chair. The bright pink icing was half gone, a signal that the rest of the icing was most likely on his back.

The sound of partially concealed laughter made its way to Sollux's ear. He spun around and glared at Eridan's shaking form menacingly. "You think thith ith funny, ED?" he snapped.

He mentally kicked himself for using the shortened version of Eridan's name. He kicked himself again when Eridan recognized that he had used a nickname as well.

"'ED?'" Eridan mimicked. He repeated the word thoughtfully, turning it over in his head. He smirked at Sollux. "That's cute, sol. And of course I think it's funny. But don't blame me. Kar's the one wwho did it."

Sollux snapped his head to look around the wall of his cubicle to see Karkat's retreating figure. "You're tho dead, KK!" He shouted angrily. "Where did that aththhole get a piethe of cake anyway?" he asked in frustration

"It's Wwalter's birthday," Eridan snickered.

Sollux turned back to face him, still furious. "What am I thuppothed to do?" He asked, half challenging, half whining. "I don't have any extra fucking clotheth."

Eridan shrugged and crossed a pair of long slender legs as he leaned back in his chair. He pretended to examine his nails. "Take your shirt off," he said casually.

Sollux glowered at him. He felt his cheeks turning a deep crimson at Eridan's words. "Thtop joking. I'm theriouth," he growled.

Eridan looked up from examining his nails and smirked widely. "I'm bein' serious too, sol."

"Don't call me that, dumbathth."

Sollux gazed around the small cubicle. He had forgotten his jacket because of his being late. He had no extra clothes or hoodies to pull over himself. Eridan most likely wouldn't offer him any clothes, and Karkat was about the size of a sixth grader.

He set a stony expression on his face and pointed towards the hallway. "Leave," he commanded Eridan. "I'll call KK and make him go get me a shirt. But you're thtaying out of here."

Eridan feigned a hurt expression. He held a hand to his chest and tilted his head to the left. "But I'm supposed to be wwatchin' and learnin' how to code from you, sol," Eridan said in most-earnest. "Plus, you need that raise," he added as an afterthought.

Sollux's face flushed a deep crimson. He felt resolve settling inside of him. He didn't have much of a choice besides wearing cold and wet icing all day.

Sollux grasped the hem of his shirt with shaking hands. He peeled the fabric off of himself, not daring to look over his shoulder at Eridan. Wordlessly, he strode down the hall and to the bathrooms, intending to hide out for a bit until Karkat brought him a shirt.

He sent Karkat a threatening message on his phone. He had demanded that Karkat bring him a hoodie or something. Through a string of cuss words, the other office junkie had agreed.

Sollux shoved his shirt under the water that came pouring out of the faucet. He didn't want to think about how embarrassed he felt. He didn't want to think about the stupid smirk he was sure was spread across Eridan's face. He was the laid back, cool hacker guy. He was the one who was guaranteed to make a sarcastic remark in every other sentence.

Eridan was changing him. At least, that's how he felt. Eridan was making him into an embarrassed and flustered girl with the constant sexual advances. He could never keep his cool around the asshole. He always found himself snapping and blushing uncontrollably.

He hated it. He hated Eridan. He hated everything the guy did to him and he hated not knowing whether or not the jerk was even serious.

Sollux had been too involved in his thoughts to hear the door open. He was furiously scrubbing the half dried pink icing out of the yellow dress shirt.

"Hey, Sol."

Sollux froze mid-scrub. He glanced over his shoulder to look at the source of the voice. He knew it would be Eridan.

The wannabe hipster stood in front of the door. His eyes were downcast and glanced up nervously to look at him every few seconds. His hands were clasped in front of him and he shifted his weight from foot to foot.

_Why the fuck does he look so cute?_

Sollux turned back to his washing. "What?" he muttered.

"I'm sorry."

The surprise was evident in Sollux's face as he tried to register what was being said. He glanced up into the mirror in front of him. He met Eridan's violet gaze with his own questionable ones.

"You're.. thorry?" he asked uncertainly.

Eridan glanced away awkwardly. "Yeah. I wwas a big ass to you. I wanted to get your attention and didn't really knoww howw."

Sollux found himself staring openly at Eridan through the mirror, his icing covered shirt forgotten. He didn't know what to say. Usually, he had some sort of response for everything. However, this time he was at a loss for words.

He didn't want to say he forgave Eridan. He didn't want to tell the jerk that it was okay and they could move on.

"Why did you want my attention?" he asked.

Eridan wrung his hands together and shrugged. He kept his gaze averted from Sollux. "You're cute. An' it's fun to mess wwith ya."

Sollux rolled his eyes. "You're tho romantic," he said sarcastically.

Eridan looked up hopefully. A small pleading smile made its way onto his face. "Does this mean you'll go on a date wwith me?" he asked.

_Say yes. _

Sollux mentally kicked himself for even thinking such a thing. "Not going to happen, ED," he said firmly.

Eridan sighed in frustration and tousled his hair with one hand. He shifted his weight again and glanced down Sollux's torso longingly. "I wwas hopin' you'd say yes," he said bluntly.

He stepped forward so that he was standing right behind the office junkie. His arm circled back around Sollux's waist as he pulled the shorter man against him. Eridan paused to revel in how soft Sollux's skin felt under his touch.

Eridan brought his lips down to Sollux's shoulder. He held them there, unmoving. He watched as Sollux shifted uncomfortably under his touch. "I'll wwait, Sol. But you're gonna say yes evventually."

Sollux stopped his squirming as a new shirt was pressed into his hands. He grasped the expensive material tightly. He felt himself visibly relax as Eridan's presence disappeared from behind him. Sollux turned, ready to yell at Eridan, but his words fell short.

Eridan was nowhere in sight. Sollux was completely alone.

He glanced down at the shirt clutched tightly in his hand. It looked designer. Sollux was sure he could have paid three month's worth of rent instead of buying a shirt like this. He grumbled to himself as he slipped the purple material over his head.

He definitely hated Eridan. The guy was pompous, ignorant, and so stinking rich he could buy Cuba. He hated how forward he was, and how each time he had Sollux squirming and sputtering incoherent words.

He hated that Eridan had been nice and had given him a shirt to wear; a shirt that most likely belonged to Eridan himself.

_He's still an asshole._


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay, wow you guys are really nice. Just, wow. So I hope you like this next chapter, and everything else after that! Here you go, and enjoy, and lemme know what you guys think!

~Tuna

* * *

A few days ago, Eridan Ampora hated his job. He hated everything about the large office and paper pushing and dealing with constant assholes day in and day out. He hated putting up with employees that kissed his ass because they wanted a raise. He hated having to pretend he was on good terms with his father in order to keep his job and a roof over his head.

Now, as he opened the door to his apartment complex, he realized that he currently loved his job.

His reason was simple.

Sollux Captor.

It was the man with the red and blue framed glasses and the untamed hair that always stuck up in odd directions. It was the person who wasn't afraid to insult Eridan and put him back in his place. The same person who was supposed to be teaching him how to code and also taught him some very useful sarcastic comments to use if he ever so needed in the near future.

Eridan's gaze swept over his apartment as he walked to the kitchen. He automatically flipped on the coffee pot when he passed the bright blue machine. His mind seemed to be in a faraway place, unable to focus on one thing for more than a few seconds.

His coffee pot was the only expensive object Eridan had ever splurged on. His apartment consisted of old and cheap garage sale furniture and none of it bothered to match with one another. The walls were painted a dark purple and the wooden floors covered in black and white throw rugs. The place was small and cramped. It was barely able to be considered livable, even for one person.

For someone with a rich father that owned a large corporation, Eridan definitely was not living in luxury.

He was alright with not being rich, if he was being honest with himself. He never cared much for the money. The thought of owning more than one car never gave him the sick perverse feeling it seemed to give his father. Owning a large corporation and doing something he hated just for the money never held its appeal.

Those were the main reasons he'd left so many years ago. He hadn't given his father any warning; just up and left one Saturday morning because it seemed right. He had gone to college, determined to do something he wanted to do for once.

And he almost did it.

However, once his father found out that the heir to his corporation was currently earning a degree in the applied arts, Eridan's funding went dry. He was cut off, left on his own to fend for himself.

That was how he ended up here, in his drab and dingy apartment, trying to convince his father that he wasn't going to run off to art school again. It wasn't an easy task, because Eridan wanted to go and finish his degree in applied arts more than anything in the world. However, he knew it was unrealistic. His father wouldn't pay for it and he had no money of his own.

He was stuck working as an office junkie.

It honestly wasn't as bad as it sounded. At first, the thought was completely depressing. Now, though, he saw it as hopeful.

It was all Sollux Captor's fault.

But Eridan didn't want to waste his time thinking of Sollux any more than he had to. He knew he needed to find a way to get his mind off things. Scrolling through his phone, Eridan quickly tapped on the contact screen and hit 'call'.

_Oh come on, I don't have all day here. _

"Eridan?" a warbled voice crackled its way through the speaker. She was most likely driving home from classes.

"Hey, Fef," Eridan said coolly. He sat down on the stool next to the kitchen counter and crossed his legs. It was a nervous habit he had picked up over the years. "Wwhat are ya doin'?" he asked.

He heard a distant car horn in the background noise. "Oh, the usual," she sighed irritably. "On the road, tryin' to survive drivin' with glubbin' assholes." Another car horn sounded through the phone, only much louder; most likely Fefari responding to the earlier honking.

A fond smile swept over Eridan's lips. He had grown up with Fefari since grade school. The two had been inseparable and had done everything together. She used to yell at him for using swear words and always demanded that he replace them with less offensive things, such as "glubbing". She was so sweet and pure; he sometimes wondered how he'd ever convinced her to become his friend.

Fefari had even been his first crush. Of course she'd rejected him; they were only ever meant to be friends, something Eridan soon learned after a few short days of rejection. Fefari had helped him realize his sexuality. She helped him discover that, apparently, his "door didn't swing that way."

"Sounds thrillin'," he laughed. "Anywway, do you wwant to havve a movvie night tonight?" he suggested, getting straight to the point.

Another car horn blared through the speaker. It was immediately followed by a shout of "you glubbin' mother glubber!" and other curses involving the word "glub". It wouldn't be long now before Fefari hung up.

"I dunno, Eridan," she sighed. "I've got loads of homework tonight and its glubbin' frustrating."

Eridan frowned. He had really been hoping to see Fefari tonight. He wanted to momentarily forget about Sollux; wanted to refrain from texting him. "Please? It's all I'm askin' a ya."

"Eridan I really don't know if-"

"I'm going through a crisis here, Fef!" he blurted, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Silence. That meant either Fefari was about to call him a drama queen and hung up, or she would be giving in and coming over with the Chinese food for dinner.

Another drawn out sigh stretched its way through the phone. "Alright. I'm on my way," Fefari said. The phone clicked as she hung up.

_Success. _

Eridan tossed his phone onto the counter. He slipped off his glasses, pausing to rub an itch in his right eye for a moment.

Eridan spent his next half hour doing nothing productive. He had changed into grey sweatpants and an aquarius t-shirt; Fefari had given it to him three years ago as a joke, claiming he'd needed more casual clothes in his wardrobe. He spent some time singing, something he was actually rather talented at. However most of his activities involved laying on the couch in the living room and staring at the ceiling.

He also stared at his phone for a while. He hated the fact that he was constantly debating whether or not to text Sollux while he waited. Texting the office junkie was pointless. He never got any responses besides the usual biting remarks and accusations of him harassing the guy.

"Eridan? Hello?"

Eridan jumped up from his position on the cheaply made furniture, his heart rate beating erratically. He quickly straightened his clothes and swiped a hand through his hair in an attempt to look presentable.

"In here, Fef," he called back.

His best friend since grade school rounded the corner into the living room. As usual, her black hair spun down her back in unruly curls. They framed her heart shaped face perfectly, accentuating high cheekbones and a perfectly curved jawline. Her bright aquamarine eyes blinked at Eridan. They emanated with life and youthfulness. Her eyes were framed with her signature bright pink glasses; something Eridan had admonished her about for many years, claiming they were "tacky" and not "in style".

She tossed her pink jacket onto the chair and kicked off her shoes. "You better be letting me pick the movie. If I have to watch Dear John one more glubbin' time, Eridan, I swear-"

"Fef, I'm in a life crisis here!" Eridan wailed. He tossed his hands up in exaggeration and waved them a bit to gain her attention.

Fefari shot him a skeptical look. After a moment she dropped her bag on the ground and made her way over to Eridan. She sat down and crossed her legs in a business-like manner. "Eridan," she began. "Everything in your life is a crisis," she pointed out.

Eridan waved a hand dismissively at her. "Okay, sure. If you don't wwanna knoww wwhat's been troublin' me lately and wwill most likely lead to a gruesome suicide then I just wwon't tell you!"

Fefari sighed irritably. "Just spit it out. The Chinese food is going to be here soon and I'm not listenin' to you whine."

He clasped his hands together and pursed his lips. "Wwell, there's this guy at wwork," he said slowly. He glanced up a bit sheepishly.

Fefari rolled her eyes. She didn't seem impressed in the slightest. "And you have a huge crush on him but he's already filed a restraining order?" she questioned.

"That wwas _one _time, Fef, and completely not my fault!"

"Just glubbin' tell me already!" she huffed.

Eridan bit his lip and looked down at his lap. He wasn't sure how to start. "His name is Sol, an' he's really cute, but also kind of an asshole. He's real sarcastic an' doesn't talk much but I tried askin' him out an' he said no," Eridan rambled. He waved his hands a bit as he spoke, trying to convey how difficult it actually was to portray his current crush.

"Why'd he say no?" Fefari asked. "Is it because his door doesn't swing that way or is it for some other reason?"

Eridan looked at her guiltily. "I may or may not havve gotten Kar to smash a piece o' cake into his shirt so I could properly ask him out," he admitted.

"Eridan! No wonder he said no," Fefari admonished. She sent him a disappointed look and hit him on the back of the head. "You didn't try to molest him or anyfin' right?"

"Wwell you see, Fef. Your definition an' my definition of 'molest' could be completely different-"

"Eridan Ampora, you better thank your lucky stars that boy hasn't filed a restraining order yet!" Fefari scowled at him through her pink glasses.

"He said somethin' about that actually-"

"You better not get arrested again for harassing someone!"

"COD, FEF, JUST LET ME TALK ALREADY," Eridan shouted as he tossed his hands up in exasperation. "I can't make any progress towwards gettin' a date if you wwon't let me explain my predicament!"

Fefari blinked at him with a steely gaze, clearly not in any mood to put up with his drama. "Go on."

Eridan let out a long sigh, trying to calm himself. He always got so worked up when he tried talking to Fefari about these things. She was the only one to ever listen to his problems, and he was grateful. However, he not having anyone else to talk to did get a little frustrating.

So Eridan proceeded to tell her. He told Fefari everything from the moment he first laid eyes on the office junkie, to the moment when he left Sollux one of his shirts in the bathroom. He explained that Sollux was the most sarcastic asshole he'd ever met, and yet he still managed to have feelings for him. He mentioned that Sollux often got lost in coding, and he was obviously very passionate about it.

He told her everything, even down to the smallest detail of what Sollux had for lunch today.

"I really don't know wwhy he'd evven eat honey toast. I think it's the most disgustin' thing I evver laid eyes on, wway too swweet," Eridan finished. He took a deep breath in an effort to gain some oxygen into his lungs.

"Why do you like him, Eridan?" Fefari asked quietly. She looked at Eridan with seriousness in her eyes, her lips set in a straight line.

Eridan hadn't seen her face like that since his mother died.

"Wwhat do you mean I just tol-"

"What is it about him that you like? Because you keep telling me all these things about him, but what makes you think you like him?" she asked.

Eridan paused and, for the first time in a while, found himself at a loss for words. He wasn't sure what it was that drew him to Sollux so much. Maybe it was the sarcastic comments and the way Sollux carried himself. Eridan had never been able to keep his head that high, had never managed to be confident completely in whom he was as a person. It could possibly be the way Sollux seemed to drift off in his own world when he was coding. Sollux escaped reality, something Eridan could never do. Sollux was able to slip away, unnoticed, and find solace in his own job. He did something he loved, and he managed to get paid for it.

Eridan knew he could never accomplish that.

Or maybe, even, it was just that Sollux had a really nice ass.

Either of those options worked.

"He has a nice ass," Eridan mentioned to her.

Fefari rolled her aqua eyes in his direction, clearly not impressed. "Have you even talked to him besides the times you molested and harassed him?" she asked bluntly.

Eridan shook his head, a sinking feeling entering his gut. "Wwell, no," he admitted. He clutched the hem of his t shirt tightly in his hands and twisted it nervously. "I nevver thought of that."

She placed a warm hand on his shoulder. Her gaze was filled with sympathy, and Eridan knew what was about to come out of her mouth before her lips even opened.

"I think you should get to know him first," she said slowly. "You like to wear your heart on a sleeve, but not everyone else does, Eridan."

Eridan felt his stomache tightening painfully. He wasn't sure what had triggered it, but he suddenly felt put off. He glanced at the hand resting caringly on his shoulder, and watched as it gave a light squeeze before returning to its owner's lap.

His heart beat continuously, but each beat felt like a hit to the chest. He felt his breath hitch and leave him in short, quick pants as he fought to calm himself down. A distinct burning seared behind his eyes.

"Are you crying?!" Fefari's voice held a tone of hysteria. She grabbed Eridan's shirt and tugged him forward. She wrapped her arms tightly around him and pulled him into one of her crushing hugs.

Eridan let himself relax into the hug. He hadn't been hugged in a long time, and, even if it wasn't some extremely attractive male, he was alright with it. His arms wrapped weakly around Fefari as best he could, though his arms were already plastered to his sides.

After a moment Eridan sat up and extracted himself from Fefari's grasp. He scrubbed the back of his hand across his eyes and breathed deeply. He looked up from his lap and into Fefari's worried gaze, a small smile stretching over his face.

"Sorry, Fef," he said quietly. "I just don't knoww wwhat I'm supposed to do."

She sighed, a hint of irritation. "You've only known this guy for how long? Three days? Don't be so dramatic. Just glubbin' ask him out already."

Eridan opened his mouth to protest but was cut off. "Politely and with no molesting," she added quickly.

He rolled his eyes, but agreed anyway.

The rest of the night was spent watching the Paranormal Activity movies. Eridan thought that if he had a say in the movie choice, he would have at least picked something that didn't require new pants every goddamn minute. He was never one for horror movies, no matter how ridiculously cliché they seemed to be.

After Fefari had dozed off, Eridan decided he was going to take her advice from earlier. He pulled out his phone and squinted as it quickly sprang to life. He searched through his contacts for a moment. He brought up the small text box and let his fingers hover over the screen.

_Something polite. I have to think of something polite._

Eridan frowned to himself. Personally, he'd always thought of himself as the perfect gentleman. However, Fefari did have a point; trying to get into a guy's pants when you hadn't even known each other for a day wasn't too gentlemanly.

What was he supposed to say?

_Sorry for molestin you. You just havve a really nice ass._

Eridan re-read the message. He shook his head and quickly deleted the message. Sollux would never think he was serious. He'd most likely be laughed at for texting something that stupid.

_Hey Sol_

Eridan quickly pressed send before he could rethink himself. He felt his stomache tighten as the 'sent' sign flashed on his phone.

He really was going to make an attempt at friendship, he decided. He wanted to get to know the office junkie. He wanted to figure out where it was Sollux's mind drifted to whenever he was coding. At this point, it didn't matter if there was a chance at something romantic happening between the two of them.

Within a half hour, it became apparent Eridan wasn't going to get a response. He sighed and leaned back into the couch, absently scratching his head.

_I knoww you're up sol. So don't pretend wwith me that youre sleepin. _

Again, no response.

_Anywway. I wwas wwonderin if you wwanted to go out sometime? It doesn't havve to be a date if ya don't wwant it to be._

He turned off his screen and slid the phone away from him. Sollux most likely wasn't going to respond, but at least Eridan could say he'd asked. Fefari wouldn't be able to yell at him for being impolite tomorrow morning.

The familiar buzz from his phone caused Eridan to jump. He glanced down at the screen and, suddenly, his heart was in his throat. It was from Sollux.

_Why?_

It was a simple one worded question. If it had been anyone else asking, Eridan probably would have told them to forget about it; that he wasn't wasting his time on ingrates. However, this was different. He felt like there was a deeper meaning behind that one word. He felt like, maybe, Sollux was afraid; of what, he didn't know.

_I figured I owwe it to ya for ruinin' your shirt. An I wwant to try bein' friends, _Eridan typed quickly. He read the message once to make sure his typing quirk was in there before he sent it.

_I don't want any friends_.

Eridan frowned. He wanted to text back that Sollux was a liar, and that he could smell his pants burning all the way from his apartment. He was extremely tempted to write just that and be done with it; but he knew he definitely wouldn't be scoring a date any time soon if he did.

_Wwell then howw about free food? _

He pressed send, and waited. Eridan waited patiently. He waited for so long, in fact, he soon began to suspect he wasn't even going to get a response. Part of him didn't expect a response, because this was Sollux, the most antisocial person ever according to Karkat. The other part of him, however, hoped desperately for any type of response. Even a simple 'no' would be fine.

Just as he was about to drift off to sleep, his phone buzzed.

_Sure. _

That simple message, although not too promising, was enough to spread a wide smile across Eridan's face. He re-read the message countless times, half expecting to wake up from a dream. It wasn't a complete yes, but it wasn't a complete no. This was his chance to actually talk to Sollux, to get to know him.

Eridan really only wanted one thing. He hadn't had one since Fefari, and every time he tried to have one, it failed. He didn't care what shape, size, or form it came in. He was desperate. Because, in a way, Eridan was completely alone; minus the rare times he was able to spend with Fefari.

Fefari's schedule was gradually filling up more and more with school and work. She was never free anymore, and Eridan almost never spoke to her.

Eridan only wanted one thing, and he was determined to find it in Sollux Captor.

What he really wanted was a friend.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So I finally got around to posting chapter four. You guys are seriously the best, and I have no idea why you're still sticking with this. I always forget to upload and everything. Anyway, enjoy?

~Tuna

* * *

Sollux didn't go in to work the next morning.

Around three, rumbling pains echoed from his stomache. Cramps began to settle in, and the room suddenly began to feel like an oven. Sweat poured from Sollux's forehead and he felt extremely warm. Within minutes he peeled off his t shirt and sweatpants and tossed the blankets haphazardly across the room.

None of it helped. He continued to feel the sweat pouring from his face and his breathing was erratic and uneven.

Sollux's hand gripped weakly onto his bedside table. His fingers curved around the smooth surface of his phone, and he brought the object up his eyes. Flipping it on, he squinted against the harsh light that glared back at him. He quickly tapped out a message telling Karkat he wasn't going to be in today, and not to bother responding because he'd most likely be heaving out his insides whenever the jerk finally woke up.

He was right.

It wasn't until he had his face permanently plastered against the side of the toilet that a faint buzzing could be heard from his bed table. He groaned in annoyance, half tempted to hit his head off of the toilet in an attempt at killing himself; he'd never have to deal with insufferable assholes texting him ever again.

He didn't move. Maybe if he ignored Karkat enough, the guy would stop hounding him with texts and phone calls. Eventually, the incessant buzzing fell short and was no more.

The rest of the day was spent becoming best friends with the porcelain throne. However, Sollux knew he'd have to make an attempt at moving sometime. With a great effort, he hauled himself up from the toilet.

His eyes watered and his throat burned as he struggled to make it to the shower. The water poured out of the showerhead abruptly. Sollux jerked a bit from the sudden movement, but quickly recovered and began washing away his illness.

Once he had his shower and had slipped on his glasses, Sollux would have been lying if he said he didn't feel better. His head no longer felt as foggy and he could now stand to look at the dim lamp for an undetermined amount of time. After he'd eaten something, he even felt well enough to check the ten messages on his phone.

Surprisingly, none of the messages were from Karkat.

_Sol._

_Hey sol._

_You should be at wwork. I'm dyin here._

_Soooool. _

_Howw are you feelin?_

_Kar says youre suck_

_Sorry. *sick. _

_You could suck something if yaw want ;D_

_Sorry that wwas probably creepy. Call me wwhen you're feelin' better._

_I'm comin' ovver sol an you aren't stoppin me. I gotta make sure you aren't dead. Be there round sevven. _

Sollux fought the urge to roll his eyes at the messages. He paid no attention to the last message. Eridan was even more dramatic than he'd originally thought. The guy was helpless and couldn't even function one day on his own.

A smirk curved on Sollux's lips as he imagined Karkat being harassed by Eridan all day long.

_Serves him right for putting cake on my chair._

Sollux returned the phone to its position on the nightstand. At least he had the next three days off, he reminded himself. Today was Friday, and Sollux couldn't have planned on being sick at a better time. His fingers itched; a sure sign that he was in a mood to code away his sickness. His eyes glanced over to the bright yellow digital clock next to his phone.

It was only six thirty at night.

He grinned in relief and began looking for his misplaced laptop. Within minutes his hands grazed over the keys and light tapping sounds resonated throughout the small living room. Each key that was pressed down by his finger brought him farther and farther from reality; he was slipping away to his own world again, just how he liked it.

Sollux couldn't even tell himself where it was he went when he began coding. He didn't know what to call the world he resided in that wasn't reality. In a way, he almost felt like an addict. He felt this high enter him, this immense relaxation and euphoria; it felt as if it were the greatest thing in the world.

In this new world, he didn't have to think about a dead end job. He didn't have to think about supporting himself and his family by working at the bottom of some large corporation. He didn't have to think about how isolated he was from everyone. He didn't have to think about himself being the only one to blame for all of it.

He wasn't sure what he did think about, but he definitely knew what he did not think about.

A loud banging on his door jolted Sollux back to reality. He jumped, sending the laptop sprawling across the floor and his heart thumping out of his chest. He cursed and snatched up the electronic. He snapped the object shut and paused a moment to brush his hand almost lovingly over the cover before he decided to murder whoever was at his door.

Sollux yanked open the door, a glare etched permanently into his face.

Eridan stood in his doorway, a worried expression set on his face. His hair was a bit disheveled, most likely from him running his hands through it all day. There were faint traces of bags under his eyes from lack of sleep. He had a large cardboard box held snugly in the crook of his left arm. In the other he held a bag of Chinese food and flowers.

What Sollux saw made him want to slam the door and walk away like nothing had happened.

So that's what he did.

There were sounds of shuffling from outside the door, followed by grunting. A moment later the knocking returned. "C'mon, Sol! Let me in! I brought you all a this stuff an' evven brought free food!" Eridan's voice was muffled by the wood.

Sollux crossed his arms, still glaring dangerously at the door. He rooted his feet to the spot stubbornly. Eridan would leave eventually; he wasn't letting some asshole ruin his perfectly good weekend.

"Sol! I'm not leavvin'! I mean it!"

An irritated sigh tore past Sollux's lips. He was in no mood to deal with Eridan today. His hand clasped around the knob of the door, and he yanked harshly. The door flew open, causing a surprised Eridan to tumble into the room after it.

He blinked up at Sollux with his wide blue eyes. A sheepish expression seemed to be plastered onto his face, and whether it was real or not, Sollux could not tell.

"What the hell, ED?" Sollux snapped. He forced his glare in the direction of the man laying sprawled across his floor.

Eridan scrambled to stand up. He began brushing off his clothes and straightening them. "I wwas comin' ovver, I told you. I brought you all a this shit an' I'm not takin' it back," he retorted.

Sollux blinked at him, a hint of shock entering his gaze. Had Eridan just talked back to him? Was that even legal? He hadn't thought Eridan was good for anything except annoying the hell out of him, and trying to get in his pants.

"Uh, okay," Sollux answered dumbly.

He wondered if the reason he was so slow on the sarcastic comments was because of his illness. That had to be it, he decided. There was no way Eridan had actually shocked him enough to leave him dumbfounded.

He was Sollux Captor. Sollux Captor was never surprised or shocked by anything.

Eridan brushed past him and into Sollux's apartment. He dropped the box he had been holding earlier unceremoniously onto the beat up couch. He dusted off his hands for a dramatic effect, spun on his heel, and began making his way toward the kitchen, the flowers and Chinese food still in hand.

Sollux followed wordlessly behind him, a hint of irritation passing through his features. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked again.

Eridan sat the bag of take-out onto the counter before giving his full attention to Sollux. "Wwhat do ya mean? I'm takin' care a ya, Sol."

Sollux crossed his arms as his eyes scanned over the Chinese food. At that moment, he could swear the heavens had opened up and shined down on the perfect plastic bag with a crumpled smiley face staring at him. His eyes then snapped to the flowers clutched tightly in Eridan's hand.

"Why do you have thothe?" Sollux asked, nodding his head in their direction.

Eridan's face flushed to a light shade of red. He cast his gaze from Sollux and shifted uncomfortably. "Wwhat, Sol, you don't like Swweet Pea flowwers?" he asked.

Sollux frowned at them. "Purple wath never my color," he admitted.

Eridan thrust out the bouquet of flowers toward him. "Wwell noww they are," he said. "I wwent to all a this trouble an' I'm not goin' to take 'em back."

"Why Thweet Pea flowerth, though?"

"You like swweet things an' they're pretty," Eridan huffed.

Reluctantly, Sollux accepted the bouquet. He held them tightly in one hand as he shuffled toward the cabinets. He pulled out a dusty vase and quickly filled it with water before plopping the flowers inside. He placed them on the table.

The purple flowers drooped a bit in the vase.

"Thankth, I guethth," Sollux murmured awkwardly.

"So are wwe starin' at flowwers for the rest a the night? Because I wwas hopin' to eat some a that delicious food I wwas so clevver as to pick up," Eridan announced.

He didn't wait for Sollux to respond. He stepped over to the island table and began unloading the different boxes. He slid them down the table to where Sollux stood with a flourish.

Sollux didn't know what to think. Originally, he'd thought Eridan was some obnoxious jerk that wanted nothing but his pants. Now, as he watched Eridan fumbling around his kitchen and blabbering about useless nonsense, he realized maybe Eridan had been serious about wanting to be friends.

Maybe he was even willing to give the guy a chance.

"Do you havve any coffee?" Eridan's question brought Sollux's attention away from his thoughts.

Sollux shook his head. "No, but I have tea," he offered.

Eridan's nose scrunched up in a way that made Sollux kick himself for finding it endearing. "Eww, Sol, could you get any more unappealin' wwith that stuff?" he huffed. "First the honey and noww this." He strode over to the refrigerator and rummaged through the objects inside.

"Do dith the honey, ED," Sollux said, a genuine smile slipping over his face. "It keepth me tho thweet."

Eridan's scoff echoed loudly from the almost bare fridge. "And coffee is wwhat keeps me from goin' on a genocidal rampage an' killin' evveryone wwho thinks tea is a sufficient drink," he called over his shoulder.

Sollux rolled his eyes, but couldn't fight the smirk on his face. He snatched up a carton of Lo Mein and shuffled out of the kitchen. Plopping down onto the sofa, he flipped open the food and all but crammed the noodles into his mouth.

They ate in silence for a while. Sollux didn't feel the need to say anything. He thought letting Eridan in his apartment showed his gratitude enough. Plus, it was almost nice to pretend that he and Eridan were friends. Although Eridan would have been more comfortable filling the silence with words, he didn't have the dexterity to talk and eat at the same time.

After Sollux had finished scarfing down as many noodles as was humanly possible, he nodded over to the giant cardboard box. "What'th in the box?" he asked curiously.

Eridan set down his carton of rice. "It's a get-wwell box," he explained.

"A what?"

"A Get-Well box. It's full a things to help you feel better," Eridan huffed. "I didn't knoww howw sick you wwere, an' Kar wwas tellin' me that you wwere pukin' your guts up an' throwwin' up enough to flood the Nile."

"KK'th, jutht a drama queen," Sollux waved a hand towards Eridan dismissively.

"Wwell you wwouldn't answwer any a my texts, so wwhat wwas I supposed to do?" Eridan snapped.

"It'th not my fault you were molethting my meththageth while I puked up my innardth, ED," Sollux retorted.

Eridan crossed his arms indignantly. He scowled at Sollux, his blue eyes flashing in irritation. "You shoulda texted me too. Not just Kar. That wwasn't vvery nice of you, Sol, an' frankly I'm pretty offended. "

Sollux rolled his eyes at Eridan. "KK ith my bothth, ED. If he wasn't I wouldn't have bothered texting anyone."

"Next time text me," Eridan grumbled. He nodded to the box, already deciding to move onto another subject. "Open it."

Shrugging, Sollux stood up and shuffled over to the box. He slid his hands under the grooves on the lip and popped each side open meticulously. He figured, if anything, he could keep the box to build a fort later or something.

"God, Sol, if you don't hurry I'm goin' to groww a beard," Eridan snipped.

"Don't get your pantieth in a twitht, ED," Sollux retorted. He pulled back the rest of the cardboard, letting it spring completely open.

Inside of the box was what looked like many objects shoved inside a tiny space. He pulled out a small box of Tylenol, both in meltaway form and child's syrup. There was a large bottle of honey and multiple boxes of Earl Grey, Sollux's favorite kind of tea. There were various movies and a few books, all made of the science-fiction genre; again, Sollux's favorite genre for anything.

One of the last items he pulled out was a large throw blanket. It had bumblebee stripes running across it, and Sollux knew he'd be lying if he said it didn't look awesome. The blanket was rolled up and concealing a very blatant lump. He cast Eridan a skeptical look before unrolling the fabric.

There sat a large and quite obnoxious bumblebee pillowpet. It was almost funny; the way Sollux's horrified expression spread onto his face at the sight of it.

"What the heck, ED?" he snapped.

Eridan smiled sheepishly at him. His hands knotted themselves in the hem of his shirt, another nervous habit. "You can hit me wwith this bumblebee instead a the one at wwork," he explained.

Sollux rolled his eyes and tossed the pillowpet over to Eridan. He reached back into the bottom of the box and his hand groped for any more objects. It closed around a smooth piece of fabric that felt familiar. Lifting it from the box, he took in the familiar blue work shirt.

It was newly washed and looked as if it had even been ironed. This was the shirt Karkat and Eridan had gotten cake smashed into. Sollux clutched the blue fabric tightly in his hands for a moment.

He looked up at the sound of Eridan clearing his throat. Eridan's had his hands clasped tightly together in his lap and a small smile on his face. "I wwashed your shirt for you, though I think Kar an I did you a favvor by givvin' you an excuse to throww that thing awway," he said, gesturing to the shirt with a hint of revulsion.

Sollux blinked at him, completely speechless.

"An' Kar told me that if I wwas gonna buy you tea to buy Earl Grey. He better not havve been kidding because if so I'm goin' to seriously impale him on his owwn computer chair. I knoww you like honey too, so I figured I'd pick that up an' throw in some medicine. Kar also says you don't-"

"Take the pill kind of Tylenol," Sollux finished. "He'th right. I can't take pillth. It freakth me the fuck out, and I think I might choke," he admitted.

Eridan's mouth gaped, then closed. He repeated this action a few times as he fumbled for something to say. "Right."

"Tho did KK go with you to buy all thith thtuff?" Sollux asked. "There'th no way you remembered all of thith."

He knew he should feel grateful for everything Eridan had done, and he honestly did. However, he still wasn't going to be stupid enough to believe Eridan didn't have any help in doing all of this. If he knew anything about pompous jerks, it was that they were never to look past themselves for any amount of time to carry out a simple act of kindness without being selfish in the end.

_He probably paid KK to do it. _

Sollux hadn't noticed the angry expression bubbling on Eridan's face. "I asked Kar at wwork wwhat it wwas you liked so I could get it for you," he snapped. "I'm pretty insulted that you think I couldn't handle this on my owwn."

Sollux rolled his eyes, definitely not impressed. "You probably paid thomeone to go buy thothe thingth, didn't you?"

Eridan stood up, clutching the bumblebee pillowpet tightly. "No I didn't, Sol. I wwent to the store an' bought all a this for you because I kneww you wwere sick an' needed to be feelin' better," his voice wavered as he spoke.

"I didn't athk for any of your _charity_," Sollux hissed.

That one sentence is what set Eridan off. It was the last straw, and he snapped completely. He gripped the pillowpet and hauled it towards Sollux's face. His face was a dark red, full of anger. Eridan yanked his loafers sitting by the door onto his feet and ripped open the door.

He glared at Sollux from the doorway, and his eyes flashed. "I wwasn't givving you charity, Sol," he hissed menacingly. "If I wwas feelin' charitable, I wwould havve signed you up for a course on manners an' howw to not act like an ungrateful shit."

He slammed the door, the vibrations of the motions reaching all the way to a dumbfounded Sollux who was still sitting on the edge of the couch.

Sollux blinked at the door for a moment. He must be getting sick again, he decided; because, at that moment, he felt like throwing up again.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Alright so here's Chapter... five I think. Yeah, I'm fairly sure it's chapter five. Anywho, enjoy. You guys are the best! I hope you like this one. :) You're all so nice and perfect, just wow. Alright, enjoy.

~Tuna

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Two weeks.

Two weeks is exactly how long Sollux had gone without seeing Eridan.

At first, Sollux hadn't suspected anything from the absence of Eridan's texts over the weekend. If anything, he had been grateful Eridan was laying off on the texting; his phone plan didn't include unlimited texting, for he had never needed it. He figured Eridan not texting him was some rich kid method of pouting whenever they didn't get their way.

At first, Sollux couldn't give two shits about whether or not Eridan was mad at him.

Sollux knew he was in the wrong, he wasn't stupid. He knew it was his fault for being an asshole. He knew it was wrong to assume Eridan had hired someone to do all of those kind things for him. He was well aware that he should probably apologize to the jerk for all of it.

However, he was still Sollux Captor.

Sollux Captor didn't apologize for anything unless it could be categorized under "sarcastic remark".

It was Monday when he first suspected he had pissed Eridan off more than he'd first thought.

He had arrived at work early, a bit eager to see Eridan and make the jerk get over his pompous self. He even planned on letting Eridan code a few pages on his own as a sign of forgiveness. However, he spent the day waiting for Eridan to come in.

It wasn't until three hours after Karkat had left for the night he realized Eridan wouldn't be coming in that day. Sollux didn't have a problem with Eridan not being at work; maybe he had gotten sick after helping him, maybe he had some kind of obligation, or maybe Gucci was selling new handbags.

Though after two weeks of Eridan being absent from work, Sollux was beginning to panic.

He didn't know why. It wasn't as if he actually knew Eridan on any level other than being a co-worker. It wasn't as if they were friends, and after their last episode, they were anything but friends. He hadn't even known Eridan that long.

He didn't even like Eridan.

None of these thoughts kept Sollux from thinking that he was to blame for Eridan missing work. He couldn't find any logic to help him relax and decide to move on.

It was obvious Eridan wasn't coming back to work. It was obvious Sollux had pissed him off enough that Eridan had freaking quit. It was obvious that Sollux was destined to never have any kind of friendship aside from his laptop.

_Laptops don't act like pompous assholes. _

He had contemplated texting Eridan. He had debated it over and over again while he fought to drift into sleep that never came. But he knew he couldn't text Eridan unless he was going to be busy, because he would go paranoid with impatience.

So it was with great self control that Sollux typed out a small message for Eridan before leaving his apartment Saturday morning. He knew Eridan probably wasn't awake this early, and even if he was he would take an extremely long time to reply.

The walk to where Sollux was going didn't take very long.

His eyes raked over the familiar small house that was nestled between other businesses and townhouses. He took in the peeling soft yellow paint that was the siding of the house, and the dark green trimming. He noticed the poorly potted sunflower plants in the front garden that drooped under the morning sunshine.

It was all so familiar. He could describe every mark and piece of this house, even if some of the memories brought back pain.

Taking a deep breath, he crossed the small distance from the sidewalk to the front door and knocked.

After a few moments of waiting the door swung inwards. It revealed a small woman with smiling eyes and pale skin. She beamed at him, flashing a set of perfect teeth that complimented her features perfectly.

Her dark hair was pulled back into a bun today. She looked as if she had filled out a bit since he'd last seen her, and her face held a healthy glow to it.

Without speaking, she flung the door open and yanked him down into a warm embrace. She hugged him tightly to her as if this was her first time seeing him in forever.

Sollux finally managed to extract himself from her a few moments later. He smiled at her; a genuine smile he reserved for only rare circumstances.

"Hey, Ma," he greeted simply.

She clasped his hands in hers tightly, still beaming. "How've you been, Sollux?" she asked.

Instead of waiting for him to answer, she led him into the house and to the kitchen. "Have a seat. I was just making Tuna his breakfast," she babbled.

Sollux sat down gingerly on one of the stools at the island. His eyes took in the all too familiar scrapes from chairs along the tile floor, the oddly mismatched kitchenware, the brightly painted walls, the pictures of his old report cards still hanging on the fridge; everything.

When he was younger, his mother had insisted on hanging up every report card, even though he barely managed to pull a C in anything except science.

She bustled around the kitchen, babbling about the newest gossip on the block and who was marrying whom this summer. She offered him some tea while simultaneously apologizing for not buying Earl Grey. She frequented in asking about his job, his love life, but never stayed on the subject long enough for him to actually answer. She also asked about his friend "Car-face", who was actually Karkat, and whether or not he kept in touch with his grandmother still, because "that woman misses her boy like no other."

Nothing had changed much since he'd seen her almost three weeks ago. She was still the same mother that liked to talk and gossip and treat everyone as if they were her own children.

He really did miss her.

"…And I _told _Tuna that you were sick but he wouldn't listen and he's been moping around ever since. I had to agree to let his little girlfriend and him go out to the skatepark just to cheer him up, but he _knows_ how worried I get that he might get hurt," she rambled.

Sollux's eyes drifted to the other slips of paper on the refrigerator. They were also report cards, only not his own. They belonged to his older brother, even if there was a fewer amount of them on the fridge.

"H-hey! Ma, it's Sollux! He's here!"

His mother's incessant babbling fell short immediately. She stopped stirring whatever was in the large pot on the stove and turned to face the figure in the doorway. A smile spread across her face; both sympathetic and loving at the same time.

"Good morning, Tuna!" she greeted happily.

Another person that hadn't changed in the last three weeks was also his older brother.

Mituna Captor stood in the door way to the kitchen. His normally dark hair was still a mass of overgrown curls that hung in his face and most likely made any kind of normal vision impossible. He wore his usual black sleeper pants and over-sized bumblebee striped long sleeved shirt that covered his hands completely. His smile revealed the familiar canines that seemed to be a bit sharper than normal, but it still managed to light up the room anyway.

Sollux's mother always called Mituna by his nickname, "Tuna". He remembered Mituna had always hated that nickname and always admonished their mother for using it; but now, Mituna let it pass by him with ease. The only person he had ever allowed to call him Tuna was his girlfriend.

Mituna probably didn't even remember that he hated that name. He probably didn't remember all of the silly arguments he and their mom would get into over being called the name of a fish. Sollux was even mildly surprised that Mituna remembered he had a brother.

"Hey, Mituna," Sollux said meekly. He raised a hand in greeting, but he couldn't bring himself to let more than a tortured smile stretch over his face. "What'th up?"

Mituna shuffled toward him, still beaming. Once or twice he stumbled a bit from catching his foot on the uneven tiles, but eventually he made his way over to Sollux. He sat down in the seat next to him.

"I was watching Spongebob," Mituna announced proudly. He frowned a bit, trying to recall the episode. "But I think it was a new one, because it was pretty lame."

Like his younger brother, Mituna's speech held a hint of a lisp. However, it wasn't as prominent, and someone would have to really listen if they wanted to pick up on it.

Sollux nodded as he fought to keep his voice from wavering. "Yeah. I hear the new oneth are pretty thtupid," he commented.

"Oh c'mon, Solly, you have to admit a few of them are pretty cute," his mother called behind her shoulder.

Sollux's eyes narrowed slightly at the nickname. His mother had a problem with nicknames; in fact, if she didn't have a nickname for someone within five minutes, then she was most likely planning their death. He still hated that nickname.

It was almost as bad as Eridan's nickname for him.

That thought sent his mind wandering back to the text he had sent before leaving the house. He wondered if Eridan had responded, or maybe if he had decided to not respond at all.

His hand twitched towards his jeans pocket, but he kept it still.

"Ma, that show pretty much thurroundth a thponge and hith homo feelingth for a thtar fish," Sollux replied.

She sent him a mildly disapproving look as she turned around. In both of her hands she held two plates stacked with pancakes. Their mother slid the plates across the table to both of the boys respectively.

Mituna grabbed for the syrup bottle and poured a generous amount on top of his pancakes. Sollux could've sworn he was trying to drown the poor pancakes. After Mituna had finished killing off his food, he offered the bottle of syrup to Sollux with a small smile.

"Here ya go."

Sollux felt his heart constrict. His face contorted into what he hoped was a smile, and his hands clenched tightly into fists. He felt his nails digging into his palm, and absently wondered if he was applying enough pressure to draw blood.

However, before he could reply, his mother saved the day. "Oh, Tuna! Don't be so silly. You know Solly only puts honey on his pancakes!"

She slid the small bottle of honey down the length of the table. Her gaze connected with Sollux's and he could see the sadness that poured from her eyes.

He said nothing; just accepted the bottle of honey and drowned his own pancakes to death. He knew there wasn't anything to say. He knew the blank look that passed over his older brother's face only served to add to the fact of how much had changed, even if everyone else was set on pretending nothing had.

There hadn't been anything to say for the past two years.

Eventually, the dark cloud of despair seemed to lift from his shoulders with each bite he took. Mituna finished his food first. He stood up and shuffled his way out to the living the living room, and Sollux swore he had heard another loud _thump_; most likely Mituna stumbling over some misplaced object.

"I wish you'd talk to him more."

Sollux turned his gaze from the table and to his mother. Her blue eyes were full of sympathy; the same look she always seemed to give him whenever he had an encounter with his brother.

"I talk to him," Sollux muttered. He lowered his gaze to the half-eaten pancake. "You jutht thaw me converthing with him."

"You know what I mean," she huffed, a hint of exasperation entering her voice. "You don't treat him the same anymore. You act like he's not even your brother."

Sollux met her gaze with defiance. "How am I thuppothed to treat him then?" he challenged. His mother turned her gaze away from Sollux, signaling the end of the conversation, but he continued. "By pretending it didn't happen?" he spat angrily.

She gazed at him sympathetically. Her hands wrung in the towel as she attempted to dry her hands. "No one is pretending it didn't happen," she murmured carefully.

He wasn't having any of this. Sollux stood up abruptly, almost knocking the chair over in the process. His hand shot out to steady the wobbling chair as he made his way around the table and toward the door.

"Sollux!" He felt his mother's hand fist tightly into the back of his shirt and pull him back. "Where the heck do you think you're going?"

He glanced over his shoulder and down at his mother. Her dark blue eyes gazed up at him questioningly. She gripped his shirt tighter in response to his silence and tugged.

Sollux raked a hand through his hair. A sigh forced out past his lips in exasperation. "Did you get the check I thent on Monday?" he asked flatly.

Her eyes clouded over and her head tilted as she fought to remember. "Why, yes, I believe so. But, Sollux, I-"

"Bye, mom." He tore himself from her grasp and strode to the door. He walked blindly, not wanting to catch a glimpse of his older brother on the way past the living room.

He ignored his mother's calls for him to come back even as he walked down the street.

Within moments, he felt the familiar feeling of dread settling inside of him. His stomache clenched with each step, and he felt his heart thumping against his chest. His breath left him in short quick pants that blew fog into the cold air around him.

_Wonder if I'll collapse and die._

This happened every time he went to see them. He could never stay long; the feeling of being trapped and caged would set in all too quickly. The feeling of panic and despair would settle in, and he would feel as if his guts were about to be spilled onto the floor. He had to leave, he couldn't stay.

He stopped at the door to his apartment. It took a minute to decipher just where exactly he'd left them. Digging in his pocket, his hand curved around the cool metal as he brought it out from the depths of no return. He slid the key into the door, fumbling with the lock.

Then he felt it.

It was a dull, faint feeling. It resonated from his left hip and almost brought his heart back into his throat again. Then he realized that what he was feeling was the vibration of his phone.

Eridan was the only one who could have texted him.

His heart was definitely in his throat now.

Deciding to wait a bit, he stepped into his apartment and instinctively headed for the kitchen. He flipped on the kettle and placed a piece of bread into the toaster. It was all reflexive, and he knew he most likely wouldn't want to eat or drink anything at the moment anyway.

Once he had settled down at the table and stirred in the right amount of honey, both onto his toast and into his tea, he pulled out his phone.

_Wwhat do you wwant sol?_

It was a simple enough question. Five words, sixteen letters if he didn't count the stupid quirk. However, he didn't know how to answer it. Even he didn't know what he wanted, so how was he supposed to tell Eridan what he wanted?

_I wanted to say sorry. _

He pressed send before he could rethink the action. After the message had gone through, he regretted every word immediately.

"Thtupid, thtupid, thupid," he muttered.

He was half tempted to flush his phone down the toilet before his phone buzzed again.

_It's about damn time. I wwas startin' to think you wwere gonna be a self-righteous ass forevver. _

Sollux wasn't able to hold back the snort at Eridan's words. He couldn't believe how full of himself Eridan was being when he was trying to apologize to the jerk. However, part of him was relieved Eridan didn't want to get involved in the sappy "be my friend shit" Karkat probably would have made him talk through. He didn't have to grovel for Eridan to get over himself.

They texted; back and forth, all night long, passing trivial banter between the other for no apparent reason. Half of the time, the two of them weren't even holding a conversation besides insulting the other.

_You know you quirk getting annoying_, Sollux typed out.

He slumped back against the couch, the phone clutched tightly in his hand as if it were his lifeline. He felt calm. He felt like this was something he could do every day.

_Howw? I'm not annoyin' at all!_

_You're getting two annoying for me ED,_ Sollux texted back. A smirk slid across his face easily as he imagined Eridan's indignant expression at his words.

_OMG SOL_

_What? _

_I knoww wwhat your quirk should be!_

Sollux rolled his eyes at Eridan's message. Of course the idiot would want him to have a dumb quirk too.

_And what should it be?_

He waited for a rather long time before finally receiving a response.

_Okay so I think you should type like this: hey ED ii ju2t wanted two 2ay how awe2ome and 2exy you are. Ii mean wow ii would do anythiing two even breathe the 2ame air a2 you._

_I can barely understand what you just said,_ Sollux replied.

He scanned over the message Eridan had sent multiple times trying to decipher what he had said. Before he could respond that he understood, however, Eridan had already texted him.

_Replace your S wwith a 2 an double up your I's. And wwhenevver you wwrite the wword "to" wwrite "twwo". _

_Why?_

_Youre a Gemini! They havve a thing for twwos_

Sollux rolled his eyes again. He definitely was not impressed.

_Why do I need a quirk? _He asked.

_Because that wway wwe knoww wwhen wwe're talkin to each other an not an imposter! Duh, sol, I didn't think you wwere this stupid I had to spell it out for ya. _

_Why would someone try and pretend to be me?_

_I don't knoww! Just do it, Sol!_

_Fiine. But thii2 ii2 2tupiid. _

A reply was returned before Sollux had even managed to take a sip of his tea.

_No its not. Its awwesome. Seriously so howw do you not see howw cool this is?_

_Youre 2o full of iit ED_

The two of them texted back and forth to each other. They texted all night long; sending insults and banter. It was almost as if time had stood still.

Sollux spent his night curled on his couch and tapping away at the bright screen. His laptop, probably his most prized possession, was cast aside. It lay untouched, long forgotten.

He didn't have the urge to code. He didn't feel as if he needed to get away. For once, Sollux wanted to stay right there on his sofa, talking to the wannabe hipster from his work. He wanted to do it; it was no longer a "have to" for him.

He had to support his family. He had to work at a dead end job to make money instead of finishing his degree. He had to code for extra money late at night. He had to pretend he was okay with being alone. He had to be Sollux Captor.

He _wanted_ to talk to Eridan Ampora and tell him what a huge jerk he was; and how stupid Eridan's hair looked with that purple streak.

For once, a fond smile crept its way over Sollux's lips as he read over Eridan's recent message to him. He was smiling a genuine smile, and the cause of it was Eridan Ampora.


	6. Chapter 6

Okay you guys, here you go. I finally got around to posting the next chapter! I have the others written, it just a bit for me to transfer them over to here finally. But yeah, enjoy and let me know what you think?

~Tuna

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"ED, thtop hogging the CPU," Sollux hissed.

"In a minute, Sol, geez. I've only had this for a feww minutes," Eridan huffed.

Sollux had to fight the twitch in his hand that told him to punch the guy in the face. Instead, he simmered quietly in his seat. His hands clenched together tightly, and his nails bit into his palms when he noticed Eridan making a mistake. At first, he hadn't minded Eridan messing up, because coding was fairly difficult and took time to master.

It was whenever Eridan decided to change the layout to purple that he'd begun to lose his cool.

He had decided to change the layout; granted, it was more lame than what Sollux had originally, but he could deal with it. However, Eridan soon began adding in various shades of "royal purple". He replaced the amazing red and blue design with the ugly violet color, and Sollux was close to losing it.

His eyes raked over the coding covering the screen like a blanket. He skimmed through it quickly, and cringed the further and further as he progressed. Almost everything was a bright purple, or a dark purple, or a lame aqua blue.

Even though it was absolute torture, he could deal with it. He could take deep breaths and everything would be okay.

_Oh my fucking God. He is not adding in tiny seahorses._

Sollux felt his heart leap into his throat and his stomache flip like a stack of pancakes.

"ED, theriouthly, you're meththing it all up!" Sollux scolded. His voice wavered, and his hands twitched. He had to resist the sudden urge to scream and flip over the desk.

"Geez, Sol, just a sec-"

"_Eridan_." Sollux's hand shot out and grasped onto the oddly striped scarf around Eridan's neck. He tugged fiercely, causing Eridan to spiral out of the chair. Eridan's cry of pain mingled with Sollux's shout of frustration as they both collapsed into a heap onto the floor.

Eridan felt as if this was one of his romance novels that he liked to read. There he was, laying on top of the man of his dreams, tangled together on the floor. He felt every curve of Sollux's chest underneath him, and every inhalation of hair to match the continuous rise and fall of his chest. If he focused, he was able to hear a very faint beating of Sollux's heart.

He felt like this moment couldn't have been more perfect to finally make his move on Sollux. Their lips were close enough, and the moment felt right. He had waited almost four weeks by now; he deserved some type of reward.

"This is pretty romantic, Sol, I'm not gonna lie."

He was answered by a groan of pain from the individual beneath him. He glanced down to take in Sollux's appearance.

Sollux's hair was disheveled in all directions. His glasses were gone; most likely having fallen off. His eyes were clamped shut, and his face was contorted in pain.

Eridan scrambled to get up. "Oh, cod, I am so sorry, Sol. I wwas-"

"ED," Sollux groaned. A hint of annoyance was rooted in his voice as he spoke. He tossed an arm over his face and waited.

"Yes? Is there somethin' you need, Sol? I could go an' get ice if yo-"

"Shut up," Sollux growled.

Eridan huffed and crossed his arms, clearly not impressed. "I seriously thought you wwere hurt an' evvery hope a puttin' the movves on you wwas goin' dowwn the drain," he scolded.

Sollux pushed himself up from the ground. He felt as if every muscle was screaming at him to stop moving. However, he knew this had to be expected; he'd taken both the weight of Eridan and himself onto the tile floor when they had fallen.

He scowled at Eridan and pushed himself off the ground. He refused to have Eridan's help, he was fine. "I don't think you even know what moveth are, ED," he snipped.

He waited for a rebuttal, or possibly some kind of whining protest from Eridan; but none came.

Eridan blinked down at Sollux in awe. His jaw was slack, and Sollux could have sworn it was just barely brushing the ground. Eridan seemed to be in a state of shock; his face frozen over.

"What?" Sollux snapped. He eyed Eridan cautiously.

He'd never liked people looking at him. He'd always hated it. Every time someone would look at him for a long amount of time, the self-consciousness would settle in, and he'd become paranoid. Eridan was definitely not helping this situation.

"S-sol," Eridan stammered. "Your eyes are just…wwoww."

"What are you talking about?"

"They're twwo different colors. C'mon, Sol, don't tell me you forget havving awwesome eyes like that," Eridan scoffed weakly.

Sollux's hand flew up to his face and groped around for where his glasses should be. Instead of feeling the familiar red and blue wiring, he felt air. His face visually paled in fear at the recognition of the missing object.

He cast his eyes frantically around the small cubicle. His glasses were missing. He dropped the floor and quickly began feeling around for his glasses.

"Sol, wwhat are you-"

"I need the find my glaththeth!" Sollux shouted. He didn't stop his frantic searching, only increased the speed of which he looked.

"Can you see?" Eridan asked.

"Of courthe I can, aththhole!" Sollux growled. He crawled towards the desk and shoved the tipped over chair away from himself. He slid underneath and began searching among the tangled mess of wires for his glasses.

"Wwell then don't wwear them." Eridan's voice was faint, mildly cut off from the humming of the machines.

Eventually, Sollux gave up. He knew there were only so many places a person could look before realizing the glasses had been lost. He knew his chances of finding them, even after all this time, were extremely thin. However, he had lost the glasses in the small cubicle, so the eyewear couldn't back that far away.

Eventually, he calmed down and stopped his panicking.

Eventually, he returned to his desk chair and planned on immersing himself in deep waves of coding and layout features. He'd be damned if he was letting Eridan change his masterpiece of a layout to something like _that._

"Sol, are you done throwwin' a hissy fit?"

Sollux glanced over his shoulder to look at Eridan. "I'm not throwing a hiththy fit, ED," he grumbled.

"You'vve been sittin' there for half an hour sulkin' and re-doin' all a my wwork!" Eridan's voice was indignant and held just a hint of irritation.

Sollux sighed and sat back in his chair. He scrubbed a hand through his hair; he really didn't know what to do. He'd owned that pair of dorky glasses for an extremely long time, and now that they were gone, he wasn't sure how to feel.

Those glasses had been with him since he'd graduated high school.

They'd even been with him before he'd had to leave home.

The glasses weren't anything special. The lenses were shaped like elongated ovals and framed by thin wires. The wires themselves were multicolored; red and blue. The colors, his favorites actually, caused a tint on his glasses to help shield sun and any other unwanted factors. The frames were too large, and he constantly found himself pushing the glasses back up the bridge of his nose in an attempt at keeping them on his face.

Sollux almost jumped from his chair when Eridan's hand brushed his face. He tilted his gaze upwards to blink questioningly at Eridan.

Eridan returned his gaze with a leveled and calm look. His bright blue eyes seemed to go on forever, and Sollux could swear they were almost glowing if he looked hard enough. Eridan's hair, although not gelled to its usual perfection, still managed to have not one lock out of place.

Sollux had never taken time to admire just how attractive Eridan was. His face was like porcelain; completely flawless, save for the small cut on his nose from Sollux hitting him a few weeks ago. He had high cheekbones that defined sharp features and cast harsh shadows across the many planes on his face. His jaw was taught and strong; ironically, it almost reminded Sollux of royalty.

It was then Sollux's gaze fell to Eridan's lips. They seemed to belong to a model, or perhaps a doll. The bottom lip was fuller than the top and jutted out slightly. They were a bit chapped, though that was expected from the colder days approaching.

Chapped or not, Sollux decided they looked extremely kissable at the moment.

However, he wasn't foolish enough to act on that decision.

"Sol," Eridan said quietly.

_He must be thinking the same thing._

Sollux returned his gaze to Eridan's own eyes. They were pleading, a desperate cry for some kind of sign that he was feeling the same at the moment.

He noticed Eridan inching closer. He noticed the way Eridan's head tilted just briefly to accommodate for what Sollux knew was about to occur. He noticed the warm hand that had been brushing his face was now sliding upwards, tangling into his hair; slowly, deliberately. He noticed the burning desire that seemed to take over Eridan's purple-hued eyes.

He felt the increase of his pulse. He felt his heart pounding and threatening to jump from his chest. He felt sweat gathering at the base of his neck. He felt his eyes widening in shock. He felt everything, and suddenly didn't want to feel anything.

Sollux jerked into a standing position. The office chair clattered to the floor behind him. He blinked, once, twice, and desperately tried to convey everything to Eridan without speaking.

He tried to convey how confused he was. He wanted to tell Eridan how unsure and scared it made him to think of anything even remotely close to a relationship. He hoped Eridan understood how badly he wanted this; how much he desired to seal the deal and be done with it. He hoped Eridan understood how he couldn't do any of it.

Eventually, Sollux gained the courage to take a step backwards. His one movement shifted the air and broke the spell that had seemed to weigh over the two of them.

Eridan took a step away also, and he returned his hands to his sides. He cleared his throat and shifted his weight from foot to foot awkwardly.

"Wwhat wwas that?" he asked.

Sollux wasn't able to prevent the smile from cracking over his face. He sent Eridan a crooked smile and laughed quietly. "I guethth it wath thome intenthe moment between two protagonitht characterth or thomething," he murmured.

Eridan's own smile slipped onto his lips. "I didn't knoww you could read, Sol, much less knoww wwhat a protagonist is," he teased.

Sollux draped a hand over his chest dramatically and feigned offense. "ED, you're tho mean to me," he sighed. "My heart, it acheth."

"I'll kiss it better an' maybe you'll evventually lemme change the layout?" Eridan suggested.

Sollux rolled his eyes. "Not a chanthe. Not even when I'm dead, ED," he promised.

"Are you slapshits done having hate sex back here or what?"

Karkat stood leaning against the framing of the cubicle. His arms were crossed lightly over his chest, a sure sign he wasn't in as bad of a mood as usual. His hair was a bit mussed; then again, Karkat's hair was almost as bad as Sollux's when it came to attempting to make the unruly locks lay flat. The bags that once lived under his eyes seemed to be fading; another sign of Karkat's good mood.

"Thup, KK?"

"Hey, Kar."

Karkat rolled his eyes and nodded over his shoulder. "Captor, I need help with my computer. It's fucking up again."

Sollux decided it was his turn to roll his eyes. "Maybe if you didn't download all of that porn you wouldn't catch thothe virutheth, Genuith," he said sarcastically.

Karkat's face reddened slightly from the insult. "Just come and fucking help me." He spun on his heel and stomped off toward his own respective cubicle, muttering loudly to himself. "One fucking time at college and…"

Sollux waved a dismissive hand at Eridan's confused gaze and went to help Karkat. Once he reached the other office junkie's cubicle, his eyes quickly scanned over the computer equipment spread across the desk.

"What ith it you need help with?" he asked.

"Do you think I'd seriously be that fucking polite if I needed your help?" Karkat snipped. "Wow, Captor, maybe all of that coding has caused you to forget how to act with your own kind."

"Tho then what ith it, aththhole?"

Karkat pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for Sollux to stay quiet. He shuffled toward the hallway and checked to make sure no one was hearing before returning his attention to Sollux.

A strange smile was spread across Karkat's lips. His eyes seemed to light up like a child's would on Christmas, and he bounced a bit on his feet.

"KK, what the-"

"Did Ampora ask you out yet?" he whispered. His whispering was actually fairly loud, but Sollux supposed that would be the closest Karkat could ever come to whispering.

Sollux frowned. "I don't think tho. I mean-"

"He's going to," Karkat cut him off mid-sentence. A stubborn look engraved itself into Karkat's face as he stared Sollux down. "You better say fucking yes too."

"What if I don't like him that way?"

"Don't give me that, Captor. You and Ampora have practically been butt buddies for the past goddamn week. You're saying yes and that's final," Karkat growled threateningly.

Sollux had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. "Why do you even give a thhit?"

Karkat froze and took a step back. His face flushed in embarrassment as he averted his eyes from Sollux. He shifted his weight from foot to foot. Clasping his hands behind his back, he opened and closed his mouth a few times in an attempt at finding something to say.

"It's boring around here," he admitted. "The most exciting thing I've seen for the past fucking month is Walter getting his head stuck in the trashcan and that Makara guy yelling at a soda machine on the third floor."

"You mean GZ?" Sollux asked, trying to remember. He didn't know people by last name like Karkat did.

"Like I fucking know."

"If it'th GZ, I'd be careful, KK. He'th pretty meththed up in hith head, or tho I hear," Sollux warned.

Karkat waved a hand dismissively. He clearly wasn't interested Sollux's theories about the psychopathic murderers on the third floor, which there were many. "Just go become official friends-with-benefits with Ampora."

It wasn't until Eridan plucked his messenger bag off of the chair that rested against the far side of the cubicle that it happened. "Wwell it's late enough," he announced. "I'm ready to leavve for the day."

Sollux placed his chair back into an upright position before turning to face Eridan. He nodded his agreement and gave a small wave as goodbye. "Thee you, ED," he said quietly.

He barely had enough time to slide into the office chair before Eridan's hand clamped down tightly onto his shoulder.

"Oh no, Sol, I talked to Kar an' I knoww all about you stayin' to wwork late an' basically starvin' yourself. You're comin' wwith me," Eridan scolded. He hauled Sollux out of the chair and pointed to the small bag and jacket on one of the chairs. "Get your stuff. Wwe're leavvin'."

"To go where?" Sollux asked. He slid on his jacket and made a half-hearted attempt at packing his things back into his bag.

"Dinner a course. Don't be so thick, Sol," Eridan said pompously. He grasped onto the sleeve of Sollux's jacket and began towing the office junkie toward the doors.

Sollux cast one last, longing look at his computer as the door swung shut behind him.

Once they reached the parking lot, Sollux pulled his arm free of Eridan's tight hold and began heading over to his car.

"Wwhere are you goin'?"

Sollux froze mid-step and turned to face the voice. Eridan's arms were crossed over his chest challengingly, and Sollux could swear he saw one perfectly arched eyebrow raise slightly. "Home?" he answered hesitantly.

Eridan scoffed loudly. He crooked a finger toward himself and beckoned Sollux over to him. "No chance. I'm getting' you some food," he scolded.

Sollux shuffled toward Eridan. He was unable to keeping the look of confusion from slipping over his face. "Why?"

"Because you're probably starvin' an' wwe nevver wwent on our date!"

Sollux paused. His face slushed a deep crimson at the word "date", and his heart rate sped up. He shifted his weight from side to side and glanced away from Eridan momentarily.

He honestly had believed Eridan had forgotten about their so-called "date." He had been asked out weeks ago, and the very next day he had fallen sick. Of course, Eridan had come over to compensate for the loss of going out. Even though that scenario hadn't ended on a particularly good not, Sollux had thought that was the end of any chance at a date with Eridan.

"I guethth," Sollux allotted.

The look of joy that spread across Eridan's face was bright enough to replace the sun. Part of Sollux wanted to tell Eridan not to look so damn excited, but he knew Eridan wouldn't listen either way.

Sollux slid into the passenger's seat of Eridan's car and closed the door softly behind him. He waited patiently for Eridan to get into the car.

"Tho where are we going?" he asked.

Eridan chewed on his bottom lip, a thoughtful look spreading across his face. He glanced to Sollux briefly and away again. Slipping the key into the ignition, he sighed. "Wwell I havven't thought all a that out yet," he huffed.

Sollux rolled his eyes at him. "Maybe you should dethide before we thtart moving?" he suggested sarcastically.

"Wwe could go to a chain restaurant or maybe a little café?" Eridan offered.

"I don't care that much, ED, it'th no big deal. We could go to McDonald'th and I'd thtill be happy becauthe they have thweet tea."

"But it's our first date, Sol! It's gotta be memorable," Eridan wailed dramatically. He gave Sollux a pleading look, his eyes wide. "C'mon!"

Sollux crossed his arms and relaxed back into the seat. "Fine," he muttered. "Let'th go to Red Lobthter or thomething."

"Wwoww, Sol, I didn't expect you to havve good taste in food. After findin' out about your addiction to honey I figured any hope of good tastes wwere out the wwindoww wwith you," Eridan commented.

"You're tho full of it, ED."

Surprisingly, Sollux enjoyed himself. He liked sitting across from Eridan and bickering back and forth. Their conversation never strayed too deep emotionally; neither of them were that close. However, it was nice to spend time with another person, Sollux decided. He enjoyed watching the way Eridan argued with the waitresses what style cheesecake the restaurant served. He liked being able to share his theories on which people on the third floor were most likely to become sociopaths.

Surprisingly, Eridan listened to all of it. He asked questions, and he even shared his own side of the conversation. Sollux was definitely not used to it, but he quickly found himself never wanting the date to end.

He might have even allowed himself to hold hands with the pompous jerk.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Alrighty! Chapter 7 is here! I finally have the story finished, so I'll be posting the chapters over the course of the next few days. Enjoy!

* * *

"Oh my cod, Fef, it wwas perfect!" That was the first sentence leaving Eridan's lips as he stepped through the front door of his apartment.

He felt as if he was walking on air. His heart was fluttering around in his chest like a caged bird waiting to get out. His face was flushed a dark pink, and his eyes were bright with excitement.

Nothing could make him any happier than he felt at this moment.

"That's great, Eridan!" Feferi's voice warbled through the speakers. "I told you to start being nicer to him," she boasted. "And look what happened!"

He rolled his eyes but was unable to keep the smile from widening on his lips. "Please, Fef, I got Sol to go on a date wwith me usin' my pure charm and amazin' charisma," he scoffed. "I mean sure bein' nice probably helped, but it wwas my evver-present wwit and intelligence that reeled him in!"

He faintly heard a badly disguised snicker through the phone. "Yeah, okay. Whatever you say, Eridan," Feferi teased. "Just remember to thank me when the wedding bells go off!"

Eridan spent the majority of the next hour explaining everything that had happened between him and Sollux on their date. He described the way he forced Sollux to try calamari and how the office junkie had simply made a face at him in disgust. He remembered making fun of the other customers and their outfits, even if Sollux repeatedly said, "Look, ED, there goeth your girlfriend."

He even explained the random decision of walking down the main streets instead of going straight home after dinner. They had finished eating, and once they had appeared outside, Sollux nodded down the street.

"Want ithecream?" he offered.

Eridan was about to disagree and tell Sollux that icecream was a very fattening food. However, one look at those pleading eyes that were no longer tinted by glasses, and he was gone. He nodded and began striding in the direction of the icecream shop.

He froze when a cool hand wrapped tightly around his own and grasped it tightly. He glanced down at Sollux, a question lingering on his lips. He was afraid to ask about the hand holding. Sollux might decide it was a form of rejection and pull away.

Sollux simply raised an eyebrow in Eridan's direction. "What?" he snapped. "We're thuppothed to be on a date, ED, the leatht you can do ith pretend I don't have cootieth."

Eridan grinned and tugged Sollux closer to him as they walked. "Wwell excuse me for wwantin' to prevvent catchin' wwhatevver it is you havve, Sol," he teased.

Sollux shoved him lightly. "Shut up, aththhole. Jutht let me get you thome ithecream tho you'll be quiet for onthe."

He had expected the hand holding to end there; he wasn't going to expect too much when it came to Sollux. However, after they had finished bickering about which flavor was superior to the other and who had the best taste in icecream, it had happened again. Eridan complained about Sollux sitting too far away to be able to talk properly, so he latched onto Sollux's hand and pulled the other forward.

He had expected Sollux to pull away and grumble about what an asshole he was. Instead, a small smile broke over Sollux's face before he could stow it away again under a mask of sarcasm.

Eridan had learned that Sollux was complete in-the-closet-romantic. He knew the hacker would never admit it, and he didn't expect him to either. It was enough to know that Sollux wasn't completely a sociopath when pertaining to emotions.

Even though their night was short-lived, it was probably one of the best nights of Eridan's life.

After talking Feferi's ear off about their date, Eridan stood up and stretched. He'd been laying on the couch for over an hour now. He shuffled his way into the kitchen to make something to eat. He absently sent a text to Sollux on his way down the hallway.

His thoughts had never strayed far from the memory of last night. He wasn't able to push the feeling of warmth from Sollux's hand in his own. He couldn't forget the bickering that ended in small secretive smiles. He wouldn't ignore the way Sollux's eyes seemed to light up when he asked about coding and the new softwares that were being released.

Eridan almost didn't hear the loud ringing of his cellphone. He had been gulping down water like a fish out of water. At the sound of his phone, he slammed the glass onto the counter and hurried over to the small device. He didn't bother looking at the caller ID. He figured it was Sollux. No one called him anyway.

"Hey, Sol," he greeted smoothly. He tried to calm his breathing as he waited for a response. He didn't want to sound like he was hyperventilating over the phone.

"Sorry, Chief. It's not Captor."

Eridan felt the blood drain from his face. His eyes widened; partially from fear, partially from shock. His hands felt slick, and he had to fight to keep his grip on his phone. The cool surface slipped down slightly from his grasp.

"F-Father?" he asked quietly.

"W-vell, o' course it's me," the voice scoffed. "W-vho else?" There was a pause, and Eridan was sure his father could hear the loud hammering in his chest. "Besides Captor. Anyw-vay, I'm outside. Open the door."

Eridan opened his mouth to reply. An excuse hung on the edge of his lips with reasons not to open the door. "I'm not-"

The line was dead. Eridan blinked at his home screen for a few moments and debated whether or not to ignore him. Stuffing the phone in his pocket, he shuffled his way over to the door and simultaneously adjusted his hair.

He tugged the door to his apartment open. He barely had enough time to move out of the way before his father was pushing through.

His father looked the same as when Eridan had last seen him. His dark blue irises were framed by familiar looking lashes. He pale skin defined high cheekbones and a strong jaw. His hair was gelled back, not a single hair out of place. The only difference today seemed to be his clothing. He had opted to switch out his formal suit for a much more casual-looking suit.

He seemed to be scanning over Eridan in the same manner. However, he kept silent. He strode his way over to the kitchen and slid onto one of the chairs at the small island.

Eridan followed after him. He tried desperately to keep his heart rate down to normal, but he felt as if he was three seconds away from a heart attack. He forced a calm look onto his face as he entered the kitchen; he was sure he looked stoic rather than calm.

His father smirked cockily. "W-vell?" he prompted.

"Wwell wwhat?" Eridan asked. A biting tone lay underneath his words, but he was sure his father was too egotistical to notice.

"Aren't you going to make coffee?"

Eridan sent his father a dry look. "It's right behind you. Just turn it on," he said flatly.

In that moment, Eridan knew he had made his first mistake. His father's face twisted slightly. It froze into a mask of an eerie smile that seemed to be challenging and cold at the same time. "You're the host, Chief," he pointed out.

Afraid of making any more mistakes, Eridan obliged and turned on the coffee. His father was always like this. It wasn't anything new. He was used to getting his way, and he wasn't afraid to be the cruelest man in the world if it gave him what he desired.

Needless to say, they didn't quite get along.

However, Eridan could remember when they held some father-son traits between them. Of course, those times had been from grade school.

His father had never approved of Eridan's choices. Most of all, his father did not approve of Eridan's sexuality. He never could accept the fact that Eridan's door simply didn't "swing that way."

Eridan could even remember the first words out of his mouth after finding out his son was in to guys.

_"You're marrying a w-vife, not a man." _

The worst part of it all was the fact that his father didn't actually care about Eridan's preferences. He had no problem with sexuality. It was the "family line" he wanted to continue. He could never continue it if there was no reproduction; his father believed adoption was out of the question.

For the first few years, his father didn't mind much about Eridan's sexuality. Eridan's mother had convinced him that it was a phase, and Eridan would grow out of it soon enough. He'd had no problem tuning out the conversations about Johnny Depp taking place between Eridan and Feferi afterschool.

However, once college applications came around and once Eridan's mother had died, he was done pretending his son was not a homosexual.

That was the year Eridan had met a boy. The two of them were extremely close, and eventually they decided that they wanted to be more than friends. Eridan had been head over heels for the boy. He'd felt as if he'd finally had someone to give his heart to, someone who would not throw it in a trash bin.

Of course, with a relationship came the "no secrets" rule. Eridan had told him about his father. He'd expressed the anguish and contempt for being forced to take up the family business. He'd explained that he wasn't interested in it, and he certainly wasn't good at it.

He'd rather pick up a paintbrush than shake the hand of a CEO of another company. He'd rather write a song about politics than discuss them over a five course meal with people he barely knew. He'd rather relax in an art room than sit inside a gray office cubicle.

His boyfriend encouraged him, and he gave Eridan advice. He encouraged Eridan to go to art school instead of business. He wanted Eridan to do what he loved, and if business wasn't what he loved then there was no point in doing it. He was going to art school himself, and he could offer Eridan a place to stay until they graduated.

Eridan had been ecstatic. He had gone home and tried to diplomatically explain his plans for college.

His father hadn't taken the news too well. He'd questioned Eridan, asking what he thought going to art school would accomplish and where he thought he would get the money for such things. He threatened to take back Eridan's college fund and to disown him completely. He'd warned that he'd ruin his son's potential at ever being a successful artist by putting out a bad word.

That night, Eridan decided he wasn't going to art school. He decided that his father was right; he was being a silly boy with no clue in the world and had no chance of ever making it in life. He had been reduced to a crumpled, broken mess of tears within the span of one hour, and his father was right.

He was always right.

His father used Eridan's sexuality as the problem for everything. According to him, if Eridan was never gay, he would not have met the boy and gotten the idiotic idea to go to art school. According to him, if Eridan was not gay, his mother would never have committed suicide so many years ago. According to him, if Eridan was never gay, he'd already be running the corporation and making millions.

"So, w-vhat is goin' on betw-veen you an' Captor?" his father's deep baritone crossed the room to Eridan.

Eridan averted his gaze as he took a seat across from his father. He nursed his own cup of coffee slowly; he was stalling. "Wwe're good friends," he murmured quietly.

His mind quickly scanned through everything his father could have heard. He realized that, for now, his feelings for Sollux were in the clear. He hadn't said anything to slip and lead his father on. He'd only said hello, only called him "Sol". His father was sure to know that he had a knack for shortening everyone's name, so there was no reason for him to be suspicious.

"Didn't think you tw-vo w-vould hit it off," his father mused. His eyes scanned over Eridan's reactions. His gaze was cold and calculating, and Eridan couldn't help but suspect he knew something.

"Wwell wwe did. I think I may havve found a friend wwho doesn't care about gettin' a stupid raise," Eridan snapped. He clenched his fists tightly and clamped his mouth shut.

He'd always had a problem watching his tone around his father. He couldn't help it. Eridan had always been on the defensive, and the recent events didn't leave him too trustworthy of his father.

The mere thought of what had occurred made his stomache tighten with dread. His heartrate sped up, and his breathing labored. He felt himself slipping. He was starting to lose control, and he had to figure out how to get it back quickly.

He forced those thoughts away, opting to focus on the matter at hand instead.

"Wwhat are you here for, anywway?" Eridan blurted.

His father cocked an eyebrow. His face seemed to be daring Eridan to try and piss him off more, like a challenge. "I came ov-wer to tell you personally that I'm takin' a v-wacation for a couple o' w-veeks," he announced. "An' I'm puttin' you in charge. Giv-win' you a chance to get used to the ropes an' pulleys a the system." As he finished, a triumphant smirk slid across his lips.

Eridan's face paled at his words. This was exactly the type of thing he had been dreading. Part of him knew he should have been expecting it. However, the other part of him swore that this was never going to happen, and he still had a chance of getting away.

His father had wanted him to run the Ampora Co. for a very long time. In fact, Eridan was convinced that the only reason his father had children was for his company. Eridan knew that returning from art school to work at the company would only result in his father's dream; he'd be forced into the family business, working with numbers and people he could care less about.

Except Sollux, and maybe Karkat, but, regardless of that, Eridan had no intentions of actually taking charge of the company.

He didn't want to. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

But Eridan knew all of these thoughts about the company were invalid. He didn't have a choice when it came to this. He knew it wasn't his decision whether or not he wanted to earn a degree in business management. He knew it wasn't his choice whether or not he run a large corporation. He knew all of this, yet he couldn't bring himself to accept it.

Maybe, he thought, maybe he could try. Maybe his father would be more willing to listen today. He seemed to be in a better mood, and Eridan had definitely earned some form of sympathy when he decided to do as his father wished. Maybe he'd be able to convince his father that, maybe, Eridan wasn't fit to run the company.

He figured it was worth a shot.

"Wwhy can't you just teach Kar?" Eridan said carefully. His words were cautious, precise, and he knew that he needed to tread lightly.

His father paused, mid-sip with his coffee. "W-vhy w-vould I teach V-wantas?" he asked.

Eridan clenched his hands tightly into fists. He deliberately forced his breathing to shift in and out of himself evenly as he fought to stay calm.

Deep breath. "He's goin' to be takin' ovver the company anywway."

The room grew cold. Eridan could feel his father's demeanor change completely. He felt the temperature shift to a freeze, and his heart practically froze along with it. He felt his nails bite deeper into his palms, and waiting with bated breath.

Finally, his father spoke. His voice was low, and dangerously quiet. It was cold, and flat; holding almost no hint of emotion. "W-vhat did you just say?"

Another deep breath. "Kar is the one takin' ovver. I don't see wwhy I gotta go through learnin' his job."

Eridan's father shot up from his chair. His eyes were narrowed into slits, and his hands gripped tightly onto his work phone. The chair he had been sitting on clamored to the floor and resonated throughout the kitchen. His face darkened, both in color and expression.

"I thought w-ve w-vent ov-wer this, Eridan," he hissed.

"Wwhat? That I havve to take ovver a company that someone else deservves?" Eridan spat vehemently. His found it difficult to watch his tone, but he soon realized he didn't care much anymore.

His father stepped around the overturned chair and towards Eridan. He towered over his son, and he cast an intimidating shadow over him. His blue eyes glowered darkly.

"Are you forgettin' w-vho took you in w-vhen you w-vere on the streets because you couldn't pay your fucking rent or tuition?" He stepped forward, his gaze extremely threatening.

Eridan's nails bit deeper into his palms. He felt his frame beginning to shake, and his face heating up. "That's because you pulled my fuckin' college fund an' left me to try an' pay for it all wwithout knowwin' until it wwas too late!"

"You're damn right I pulled you college fund. You w-vere goin' to w-vaste all o' that money on an art school! W-vhat kind of idiot w-vould think I'd sit back and w-vatch that happen, and w-vith my money!?"

Eridan felt himself slowly collapsing inwards. He heaved in another deep breath, determined to keep his ground. His face felt hot and his eyes were burning with a threat of tears in the near future.

"It's my decision wwhat I wwant to do in my life," he returned. His voice held the hint of poison, and he was sure his father could hear it as well.

"Not w-vith my money!" his father roared. "That money is for business school an' the company!"

"I'm not takin' ovver the company!" Eridan shouted. "I'm nevver takin' ovver the company, an' you can just givve it to Kar because I don't wwant it."

His father paused. His eyes darkened, and his expression of rage slowly morphed into a mask of stoicism. He sent Eridan a leveled gaze and cleared his throat. He seemed to be debating something. Eridan knew that whatever he'd said had just pushed his father into the deep end completely.

"Then you can forget about callin' yourself an Ampora," he said coldly. Without another word, he swept out of the kitchen and towards the door. "Don't bother comin' to w-vork either. From now-v on, you don't hav-we a job."

The slamming of a door resonated loudly throughout the apartment.

Eridan stood there, in the kitchen. He stayed rooted to his spot and completely unmoving. His eyes were wide and stared straight ahead, but he wasn't seeing anything. His eyes burned; almost as if a hot iron was pressing forcefully against them.

He couldn't feel anything at all. He could only feel the burning behind his eyes and the hollowed out space in his chest. His lungs were pulled taught, straining from the effort of keeping his breathing calm.

Then, Eridan was gone.

Somehow, he had made it over to the couch sitting in his living room. He found himself curled tightly together, his knees pressing harshly against his forehead. He felt his hands grip tightly onto the baggy material of his sweatpants. He felt his hands gripping onto the material tightly, and he felt the biting sensation into his palms.

Then the tears were spilling over. He had been expecting the burning in his eyes to cease once they released. However, the tears felt white hot, and he suddenly wished he had endured the original stinging behind his eyes. He clamped his eyes shut in a desperate attempt at stopping them. The flow of tears continued, pouring down his face in large waves of frustration and anger.

He wrenched in a sob and clutched his knees to himself. He needed a means of grounding himself, he knew that. His mind chanted at him to call Feferi; to make her come over and comfort him like the friend she was supposed to be. His mind also screamed at him that she was in class at the moment, and most likely wouldn't check her phone until after work later tonight.

So he called the only person he could think of.

It time for the other to pick up the phone. But when he did, Eridan felt as if his world was slowly righting itself again. "ED?" a croaking voice slipped through the speakers. "It'th like, ten a.m.. Why are you calling tho early?"

Another sob tore its way from Eridan's lips. "Sol," he murmured. His voice felt thick, and he wasn't sure if Sollux could even understand him at the moment. "I-I, my dad, h-he," Eridan stammered out. He paused and had to force himself from sobbing even more.

"What'th wrong?" Sollux's voice seemed to have been cleared of sleep. His voice held a hint of concern, and even more so alarm. "Talk thlow."

Eridan forced a shuddering breath into his lungs. "Can- can you just come ovver?" he managed. He hated how his voice wavered. He hated how his voice sounded weak and broken. He hated all of it.

There was a pause. The pause was long and extremely excruciating. For a moment, Eridan thought Sollux was going to say no. Then he realized that Sollux had every right to say no. It was a Saturday, and fairly early in the morning, and Eridan was calling him and crying his eyes out for an undefined purpose. They weren't even officially dating. They hadn't even known each other for very long.

However, a quiet voice slipped through the speakers of his phone. "What'th your addrethth?"

Eridan had to force himself from breathing a sigh of relief into the phone. He rattled off his address to the best of his abilities. Sollux repeated it back to him several times to make sure he had the right address, half complaining that Eridan couldn't talk while he was crying, before hanging up the phone.

And then, Sollux was there.

He appeared at the door, and his eyes instantly landed on the curled and broken figured lying on the couch. His eyes raked over the grey sweatpants and crinkled black, tearstained t shirt. He took in the messy hair and red eyes and nose that was the source of the painful sobs and shuddering breaths.

Sollux didn't say anything, much to Eridan's relief. His gaze was a bit uncertain as he shuffled over to Eridan. He paused again, half from indecision, and half from fear. He had never dealt with crying before; in fact, he avoided it at all costs.

And then Sollux had Eridan wrapped tightly inside his arms. He pulled Eridan close, allowing the sobbing other to wrap his arms tightly around Sollux and press his tearstained face into his shirt. He said nothing, because he didn't need to.

The two of them sat there for a long time. Sollux wasn't sure how long, but he knew that he would sit there as long as it would take for Eridan to stop crying. He rubbed lightly on Eridan's back in an attempt at being comforting, but he couldn't be sure if it had any effect.

Eventually, Eridan's sobs were reduced to tiny gasps, and finally to small hiccups that appeared between a five-minute span. Eridan could feel himself calming down, could feel himself becoming grounded again. Eventually, his crying stopped altogether. And the two of them sat there in complete silence, still in the same embrace as they had been since Sollux first arrived.

Eridan's face was pressed into Sollux's shirt, and his eyes were closed. Sollux half wondered if the other was asleep, but he refused to ask and ruin the silence that had fallen over them.

Eridan murmured something into Sollux's shirt. It brought Sollux's attention back to him. "What?" he asked.

Eridan murmured the same sentence again. "ED, I can't hear what you're thaying. Thpeak up," Sollux huffed.

Finally, Eridan pulled his face back from Sollux's shirt a fraction of an inch. Sollux found himself straining his ears, trying to hear what the other was saying.

"Your shirt really smells, Sol. Didn't you showwer or anything?"


	8. Chapter 8

Sollux didn't know what he was doing. If he had to guess, he'd say he was comforting a friend in need. He assumed that he was currently consoling the sobbing mess that he'd just finished playing footsies with not even nine hours ago.

He didn't know why he was doing it.

Even with Karkat, Sollux had never done anything remotely close to comforting or posing as a "shoulder to cry on." He never bothered to answer Karkat's phone calls at three a.m. on a Sunday night. He wouldn't bother calling Karkat when he himself was in his own mental breakdown when the bills came every month.

Up until recently, Sollux had seen Karkat as his closest, and only, friend.

With Eridan, he had only to call him one time, and Sollux had answered. Eridan had only to ask for Sollux to come over, and Sollux was stumbling around his room pulling on an old pair of sweatpants. Eridan only needed to rattle off an address before Sollux slipped the key in his ignition and sped across town.

He wasn't quite sure whether this meant he was a terrible friend toward Karkat, or if he was stupidly falling for an asshole at an alarmingly fast rate.

_Neither choice sounds too appetizing._

It wasn't until he and Eridan were curled against each other on the small couch watching the Harry Potter marathon that Sollux decided to say something. "Tho are you going to tell me why you were crying at ten in the morning on a Thaturday?"

He didn't want to say anything. He knew if he were in Eridan's place, he definitely would not appreciate the question. However, Sollux figured if he was wasting his day away here instead of coding, he may as well find a good reason.

Eridan shifted from his previous position. He tugged Sollux closer to himself, and his grip tightened considerably around the office junkie. "Wwhat do you mean?" he asked sleepily.

Sollux eyes rolled almost automatically. "Everyone I know uthually doethn't cry until lunch, tho why tho early?" he snipped.

Eridan smirked. "Maybe I'm just an early riser, Sol. You wwouldn't knoww considerin' you sleep the day awway."

"ED, theriouthly. Why?" Sollux huffed.

He hated to stop their bickering, but it was the only way he'd ever get an answer out of Eridan. He also hated that he wasn't allowed to have the last insult to throw, but Eridan wouldn't have answered his question any other way.

Eridan was quiet for a moment. Sollux pretended not to notice; he opted to keep quiet and keep his eyes focused on the images full of Ron Weasley. He especially pretended not to notice the way Eridan's muscles tensed and pulled together tautly.

"My dad called me this mornin'," Eridan admitted.

Sollux fought back one of his signature biting remarks. However, he was unable to stop the worrying suspicion that he was being used.

Maybe Eridan didn't have a reason to be crying. Maybe Eridan was one of those melodramatic adults that never made it past their teenage years in maturity. Maybe Eridan had gotten Sollux fired for going on a date with someone from work. Maybe Eridan was bipolar. He honestly wouldn't be surprised by any of those scenarios.

Instead of tossing any of those possibilities out there, Sollux found himself nodding. "And?" he prompted. "Why ith it you dethided to act like you're baby daddy jutht left you on Teen Mom?"

Eridan let out a huff indignantly. "I don't knoww wwhether to be wworried you wwatch that showw or to laugh because I should'vve expected it."

"Not all of uth can watch What Not To Wear every thingle night," Sollux scoffed.

"Shut up, Sol, I'm tryin' to tell you wwhy your shirt is evven wworse lookin' after you showwed up."

Sollux huffed dramatically but kept quiet.

Then, Eridan told him. He told Sollux everything, even down to the details about his childhood and his mother dying. He explained what had happened so many years ago. He described every little hardship and difficulty he'd gone through since returning from art school.

He told Sollux all of it. He poured out his heart, and he didn't expect anything in return. For once, Eridan Ampora was sharing everything he'd gone through in the past year; something he'd kept even from Feferi since his return.

Surprisingly, Sollux listened. He listened to everything Eridan had to say, and he kept his usual sarcastic remarks to himself. He remained relaxed in Eridan's arms, unmoving and silent.

However, that didn't mean Sollux knew what to say when Eridan was done talking.

Part of Sollux knew that now was his chance to open up to Eridan. He could share everything he was going through as well. He could tell Eridan that he understood, and that he was going through something almost exactly like that. Now was his opportunity to find someone to open up to.

He couldn't do it.

"Sol?"

He improvised. "Tho, you're thaying your dad fired hith own thon becauthe he doethn't want to take over thome large corporation?" Sollux prompted.

Eridan let a sigh slip past his lips. "Yeah. An' I don't knoww wwhat I'm supposed to do, or howw I'm goin' to keep livvin' in this rat hole apartment."

Sollux pulled back from Eridan, so he could properly turn to face the other. He leveled Eridan with a calm gaze and simultaneously tried to convey compassion. "You thaid you went to art thchool."

"For twwo months, Sol, yeah. But I don't see howw that has any relevvance to-"

"If you went to art thchool, then you have to be pretty good at art, right, ED?" Sollux cut Eridan off mid-sentence. A hint of impatience slipped into his tone of voice. "Tho let me thee it."

If he had thought Eridan was pale, nothing compared to the way Eridan's face blanched at his words. As if on cue, Eridan began stammering and mumbling strings of incoherent words. His eyes were wide, and his hands twisted together nervously.

Sollux had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. "ED, really. Calm the fuck down. I jutht want to thee."

Eridan's cheeks flushed a deep crimson color. He averted his gaze from Sollux's and suddenly found interest in his coffee table. "No."

"No?" Sollux's voice was incredulous.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because, Sol, I'm not any good, an' you're probably gonna make fun a me," Eridan huffed. He crossed his arms over his chest, and his teeth clamped down on his bottom lip.

"Thtop being thuch a drama queen, oh my God," Sollux groaned. "Jutht go get thome of your art and show me. I might be your firtht buyer."

"Sol I don't knoww about the amount a money you havve in your pocket, but I'll havve you knoww that art isn't cheap. So if you're expectin' to pay fivve dollars for quality art, then you need to get out of the art invvestments," Eridan snipped.

He stood from the couch and shuffled toward the main hallway. His nose was turned upwards, and Sollux wasn't sure if the action was intentional. Eridan disappeared momentarily around the corner. The sound of rustling and a few muttered curse words echoed their way down the hall as Sollux waited.

Eventually, Eridan returned from the depths of the hallway, a large purple notebook clutched tightly in his hand. The color in his face was non-existent, and his eyes were as wide as saucers. He sat down on the edge of the couch and shoved the torn and damaged notebook into Sollux's arms.

"Here."

Sollux sent Eridan an irritated look. His hands skidded over the dark purple cover as if he were attempting to memorize every groove and crease. He hooked his fingers under the cover page and carefully pried the book open to the first page.

Whatever Sollux had been expecting, the first page of Eridan's sketchbook certainly wasn't it.

The first page was made of actual art. It was surreal; a girl, household objects, and everyday things were all placed sporadically in an underwater scene. The light reflected, and the highlights and lowlights that lit into place seemed to cause a dreamlike emotion. There was so much detail; every groove could be seen on one of the dining room chairs.

Sollux began flipping through the other pages with wide eyes. He held the book gingerly; afraid of ripping or damaging it. His eyes scanned over each painting, and each time he was even more impressed. The book was filled with multiple underwater scenes. However, each scene was different; whether it was the person, the objects, the colors, or maybe even the placing of the drawings.

"ED, did you paint thethe?" Sollux's voice was full of a quiet awe. When he wasn't given a response, he looked up.

Eridan's hands were clamped tightly together in his lap. His face was a deep crimson, and his eyes were fixed intently on the carpet. Strands of purple hair had flopped forward and brushed across his forehead. His eyebrows were furrowed together in deep concentration, and Sollux was sure he hadn't heard a word he had been saying for the past five minutes.

"ED, ith anybody home?"

Eridan's head snapped to attention. His eyes were wide and stared unblinkingly into Sollux's own eyes. "Yeah, Sol, a course I'm here," he replied shakily. His voice wavered, and Sollux was sure he could detect a hint of doubt in there.

Sollux flipped to one of the underwater scenes in Eridan's sketchbook and brandished it toward him. "Thethe are actually really good," he pointed out.

Eridan blinked, his face taking on the "deer in the headlights" appearance. It took him a moment to recover from the compliment. He wasn't used to such nice things being said to him. "Wwell a course they're good, Sol. Wwhat else did you expect?" he snipped.

"Honethtly? I thought you would thuck and you would be thcrewed when it came to thupporting yourthelf," Sollux said earnestly.

Eridan crossed his arms indignantly. "Wwell not all a us can be programmers noww, can wwe?"

As much as Sollux hated to admit it, he was relieved. He had been afraid that Eridan had made a huge fuss over running a company for nothing. Personally, he didn't see what the big deal about running the company was; he'd take a chance like that in a heartbeat. However, he didn't want to be the bearer of bad news if Eridan turned out to be terrible at art.

"Tho, I jutht tholved your problemth. Thell your artwork." Sollux gingerly set down the sketchbook onto the coffee table before flopping back into the couch. He crossed his arms over his chest and blinked up at Eridan expectantly.

Eridan's teeth clamped down on his bottom lip. He seemed to be debating with himself. After another moment's hesitation, he stood and shuffled his way to the kitchen. He returned shortly after, a wad of bills stuffed into his hand. He passed them to Sollux wordlessly and returned to his seat next to Sollux.

Sollux didn't bother flipping through the stack of envelopes. He didn't need to. He felt the familiar weight of the thick paper, the familiar feeling of lead settling in his stomache. His hands shook slightly, and he knew he wouldn't be able to fight back the waves of sympathy that coursed over him.

However, something inside of Sollux snapped. He couldn't handle it any longer. He knew he was being selfish, and he knew that whatever he said next was going to be the end of whatever chance at a relationship he'd had with Eridan.

He couldn't stop himself.

He had held everything inside of himself for so long. He had refused to even admit he had a problem for so many years, and he'd quietly stowed each laceration of pain away in the farthest recesses of his mind. He never thought about self pity, he hated it. He never admitted to anyone, even Karkat, about the problems with his family at home.

What he really needed was help; and Sollux hated asking for help. He figured Eridan would least of all want to help. Eridan was too busy drowning in self pity and his scarf to bother with him.

Here Eridan was, his father willing to practically hand over the family fortune for no other reason than being blood, and he was turning it down. Eridan had the chance of a lifetime. He'd never have to worry about covering for the rent, or the ridiculous cost of his fancy scarves. Eridan could eat all of the seafood he wanted, and then he could go to art school on the side.

Sollux couldn't see what the big deal was. Eridan should be grateful the he didn't have to live with constantly supporting a family who couldn't appreciate him. Eridan didn't have to deal with the fact that his older brother wasn't the same anymore. Eridan didn't have to deal with the constant pressure of keeping a calm façade, of being the one who could always be a shoulder to cry on.

Eridan would never understand any of that, and Sollux wasn't quite sure why he was even debating on telling the jerk.

It was then Sollux realized that he had to try. He needed to swallow his pride, to grow up, and maybe Eridan would understand. If he could stop accusing Eridan of being a jerk, if he could learn to not take offense to everything, maybe he'd have a chance at a friend.

He needed to let Eridan know why he was bitter about these things. He needed to show Eridan that he understood everything the other was going through, and more.

Unfortunately, Sollux was never good with his words.

"Why the fuck can't you jutht run the thtupid company?" he snapped.

Eridan met Sollux's gaze with his own shocked expression. It took a moment for the words to sink in, and once they did his eyes flared with more anger than Sollux had thought possible. "Because I'm not ruinin' my life to impress someone wwho's nevver goin' to be happy anywway!" Eridan's voice was pitched slightly with distress.

"You're jutht being a thpoiled brat, ED," Sollux hissed. "And I don't know why I wath ever thurprithed by that thought."

"You havve no idea wwhat I'm goin' through, Sol, so stop makin' assumptions wwhen you knoww nothing!"

Sollux tossed the stack of bills onto the ground. He leapt from his seat, and his chest heaved with anger. "I don't know anything? I know exactly what you're going through, and you're too thelf thentered to bother looking past yourthelf," he seethed. "I'd take running thome shitty company over everything I've had to deal with."

Eridan's face morphed, compassion taking the place of the fury that had previously been written across his features. His mouth gaped in quiet shock. "Sol, I-"

"Didn't think that thomeone would have a life worthe than you?" Sollux interjected. "I'm thure you didn't. And hey, it'th partly my fault, too. I don't even admit when my life ith on thome pathetic thpiral downwardth and the only reathon I bother trying to cope with it ith becauthe I have nothing better to do." His voice was bitter, and each word was sharp and biting.

"You"vve nevver evven told me wwhat wwas so bad about it, howw wwas I supposed to know?" Eridan challenged weakly.

"Don't worry about it," Sollux growled. "I'm obviouthly in not bad of a thituation ath you, tho it'th irrelevant."

"Goddammnit, Sol. Just fuckin' tell me. You nevver tell me anything, howw am I supposed to knoww?" Eridan wailed.

Sollux heaved in a deep breath and attempted to calm the thundering heartbeat in his chest. He needed to calm down. He needed to gain back some type of control before he let all hell loose.

Instead of screaming, he leveled Eridan with a steady gaze. "Why ith it you don't want to run your dad'th company?" he asked.

"No fair, Sol, you're changin' the subject on me an' that's not right!" Eridan protested. He crossed his arms and fixed a deep scowl onto his face.

_I'm changing the subject for a reason._

_Unless you'd like to have your nose actually broken this time, and with a fist instead of a bee paperweight._

"Jutht anthwer it," Sollux snapped.

Eridan sighed in irritation. "Fine," he conceded. "I guess the main reason wwould be is I don't wwanna end up like my dad," he reasoned.

"What'th wrong with him?"

Eridan laughed, though it sounded more grim and bitter than an actual laugh. "Evverything. He's selfish an' only cares about money. He's alwways cared about money more than anythin' an' I'm not followwin' in his footsteps."

Despite the fit he'd just thrown, Sollux found that rather easy to believe. "Tho that'th why you make yourthelf live in a really thmall apartment?" he prompted.

Eridan nodded. "I'm not gonna rely on him and his money for anythin' I don't havve to," he said.

"You're afraid of being thome greedy buthinethth man like your dad," he summarized. It wasn't a question. He could see where Eridan was coming from.

However, that didn't mean he had stopped thinking that Eridan was being ridiculous. "I thtill think that you're thtupid," Sollux huffed.

Eridan grinned sheepishly. His eyes seemed to hold a bit of warmth, though the underlay of sorrow was still there. "I knoww, Sol," he agreed. "But at least I'm not as dumb as you."

In that moment, it seemed as if they had fallen back into they're same routine of banter. They tossed away the memories of their previous conversation and bickered back and forth on each other's intelligence. Sollux would tell Eridan that his scarf was stupid, and Eridan would snip back that Sollux had no taste in clothes anyway. Sollux would then point out that Eridan chose a terrible layout for the website they had been coding, and that if Eridan was so "fashionably inclined," he would have had a better choice in colors.

It was as if their method of actual fighting always ended in the warm banter. It was a sign of forgiveness, and that things hadn't changed between each other. Sollux knew everything was back to normal between them once Eridan insulted Sollux's music and food tastes. He could rely on that.

Eventually, Sollux had thought of a solution for Eridan's problems. This time, it was an actual solution, if only temporarily. He knew it would help Eridan from relying on his father. However, part of Sollux was unsure if he should even suggest such an idea.

Despite his inner turmoil, he couldn't stop himself from speaking. "You could move in with me," he blurted.

Eridan paused, mid-insult, to let his jaw hit the floor from shock. If Sollux hadn't been serious with his proposal, he would have laughed. Eridan's eyes were as wide as saucers, and his hands were limp in his lap.

After Eridan had been frozen in the same expression for a few minutes, Sollux began to feel nervous. He felt the panic rising in his chest and rushed to explain himself. "I mean, it'th not like I don't have thome room to thpare. And you could get away from your dad, and I could show you what coding ith actually like," he rushed out.

"Sol, that's- that's great. I mean, I wwould lovve to," Eridan said slowly. "A course, I'd havve to do some rearrangin' but I don't see wwhy that wwould be a problem."

Sollux's stomach felt tight. "You'd thtill have to help pay billth and shit," he warned.

"Wwell, yeah, Sol, I'm not stupid," Eridan scoffed. "Unlike you, I havve some decency in me." He paused, a small smile slipping over his face. "Wwhen can wwe start movvin'?" he asked.

A large smile split onto Sollux's face. He felt his heart constrict in his chest, and he felt his head swimming with excitement. Even if his reasons seemed stupid and childish, he wasn't able to stop himself.

Sollux Captor was going to have a friend.

A living, breathing friend, who he could talk to and enjoy the company of, would beliving in the same apartment.

He was going to have an actual friend.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been a month. Surprisingly, Sollux had enjoyed himself.

He'd have been lying if he said he didn't look forward to the morning routine of bickering about what to eat for breakfast. He liked arguing about whether or not honey should be included with tea. He liked making Eridan drink tea instead of the horrid coffee the hipster guzzled down every morning.

"C'mon, ED, you can't pretend thith ith not the betht tea you've ever had."

"It's pretty shitty, Sol. An' frankly, I don't knoww howw you can stomach stuff this gross."

"You're such an uncultured aththhole."

He'd be lying if he said he didn't love watching Eridan yell and become over-emotional when he forced Sollux to watch "What Not To Wear" every Friday. He found it utterly hilarious when Eridan would shout at the screen and demand he be hired onto the show. It was even funnier whenever Eridan became so frustrated he would sniffle and eat a tub of icecream as a means of making himself feel better.

"Her sense a fashion is just horrid, Sol. You havve no idea. She makes you look like some kind a model."

"What, tho you're thaying I'm not the thexietht and motht good-looking guy in the world? Maybe you really are blind, theriouthly."

"You'vve got a cute face, but once you open your mouth forget it, Sol."

"You're thuch a thaththy thathth-mathter."

"Wwhat did you just call me?"

"Thaththy."

"Sassy? Oh cod, Sol, please don't say that evver again."

He'd belying is said he hated having someone to play Mario Kart with at three in the morning. He was a natural insomniac, and often nights he'd stay up coding. However, he now had someone to wake up and ask to play a video game with him.

At first, it had been difficult. He really didn't want to bother Eridan at three in the morning, because he definitely knew the frustration of being woken up.

"Hey, ED?"

A groan and the ridiculously purple sheets on the guest bed shifted. "Wwhat the fuck do you wwant."

"Want to play thome Mario Kart?"

"Wwhy the fuck wwould I play Mario Kart at three a.m.?"

"Why not?"

And then the two of them had ended up playing Mario Kart until it was time for Sollux to go to work. Both of them argued, and pushed each other, and sometimes they would try and insult the other in an attempt to win; but each time Sollux came out successful. However, Eridan never decided he'd had enough, even when his butt was always kicked after every race.

Sollux wouldn't be lying if he said he was surprised how easily they got along. Their schedules seemed to wrap perfectly around each other. Sollux would come home from work, and he'd finish coding for his side jobs for a while. Shortly after, Eridan would arrive home from the job he had picked up at the local library.

They would take turns complaining about the day's events; Sollux's usually revolving around the serial killers on the third floors, and Eridan's revolving around an annoying blond girl with knitting needles that refused to leave the library until closing time.

"An' Kan nevver tells her to leavve because I'm pretty sure she's got the biggest crush on the girl!" Eridan had wailed.

"I think you jutht don't get along with Kanaya and that'th why you have thuch in iththue with the blonde chick," Sollux had pointed out.

"Oh yeah? Wwell at least I havve a reason to dislike her, unlike you! You just havve these wweird theories about some guy you don't evven knoww!"

"I thwear GZ ith thome kind of therial killer, and when he'th after you it'th not gonna be my problem."

Despite how well they got along, Sollux couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. His chances at a relationship with Eridan seemed to be at a moot point. They hadn't gone on any dates, hadn't done anything close to romantic within a month of living together.

_Not that I actually care,_ Sollux thought bitingly.

To an extent, he really didn't care. He was fine with where they stood, but a part of him couldn't help but wish for more. He was fine with being friends, but he was even more fine with being more than friends. Regardless, Sollux had decided he definitely wasn't going to press on the matter.

It was when his phone began blaring through the apartment on Saturday that reality crashed on him.

He had been sleeping, strewn across the floor underneath the coffee table. Blankets pooled around him, and a playstation controller was clutched halfheartedly in his hand. He jerked into an upright position, and hissed out a string of curse words when his head made contact with the cool glass the table.

He stumbled across the room, muttering under his breath about the ways he was going to tell off whoever was calling him this early. He snatched the phone off of the island and shoved the ice cold device to his ear.

"What?" he snapped.

"Geez, Solly, someone hasn't changed a bit when it comes to being a morning person." The bright voice warbled through the speakers. It held a slight teasing tone, and was just barely covered by the clang of dishes in the background.

"Ma?"

"Who else?"

Sollux tightened his grip on the phone. The sleep had vanished from his eyes, and the fog in his mind had finally cleared. "How've you been?"

It was then he felt like the biggest jerk in the world. He had forgotten all about his mother and brother at home. He'd forgotten to send the checks he usually sent every two weeks. He'd forgotten his responsibilities.

He suddenly felt like the biggest piece of trash in the world.

"Ma, I'm real thorry about forgetting to thend the checkth for the patht few weeks," he blurted. He knew his mother had been talking, but he didn't have the patience for small talk. "I'll thend it thoon, I promithe."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. Sollux held his breath, waiting patiently for his mother to lay into him.

Instead, he was given something entirely different. "Oh really, Solly, no need to rush. Why don't you come over for dinner tonight?" As usual, his mother's voice was warm and accepting.

He was tempted to say yes. He hadn't seen his brother or his mother for a while now, and he did miss them. Mituna was most likely going stir crazy over not seeing him in so long, and Mom was probably equally as stir crazy. Mituna could give someone a hard time when he wanted something.

However, there was still Eridan. He knew he couldn't leave Eridan here alone. He knew Eridan would whine and complain about not having anything to do on their day off. Both of them had worked all week, and last night had been the Lord of the Rings marathon Sollux had decided they'd needed to watch.

Eridan had poor taste in movies, anyway. He would've chosen Lifetime movies all night, and Sollux had wanted to keep his Chinese food in his stomache.

"Ma, can I bring thomeone?" Sollux asked.

His mother's voice rang sharp and clear with an unmistakable tone of excitement. "Of course! Is it a girlfriend? Boyfriend? How long have you known them?"

Sollux had never had much of a problem when the subject of sexuality was brought up with his mother. She was always generally accepting of everyone, and it was no problem for her to accept Sollux. He had never outright told her his preferences; he had always figured if he liked someone enough, it wouldn't matter what gender he was interested in. He had never labeled himself in those terms, and his mother was rather understanding of that fact.

He didn't know what to tell her. He and Eridan obviously were not, by any means, together. They had gone out once, but that didn't constitute as a boyfriend. They lived together, but only as friends.

"He'th jutht a friend, ma."

A huff echoed through the speakers. "Well, friend or not, let him know that dinner starts in exactly two hours. You two better be on time!" she said indignantly.

Sollux fought the urge to roll his eyes. "It'th like, five in the morning. What do you mean-"

"Solly, have you been sleeping all day?" she squawked angrily. "You know it's almost three thirty!"

He paused. They had definitely slept a lot longer than he had suspected. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly, mulling over that thought in his head. "We'll be on time," he promised.

It took a few more minutes of cajoling and extra promising before his mother finally let him off the hook. With a sigh, Sollux set the phone back into its place on the island. He shuffled his way over to the living room to wake up Eridan.

Eridan was a sleeping mass of blankets on top of the couch. His glasses were tossed haphazardly onto the ground, and it was a surprise they had survived the night. Sollux tugged back the blankets and had to fight back a laugh at the sight of Eridan. His hair stuck up in tufts of purple and dark brown hair. His mouth hung open slightly, and Sollux could swear there was a slight line of drool across his cheek.

"ED, get the hell up," Sollux demanded.

No response. Eridan continued to be strewn across the couch as if his sole purpose was taking up all the space on the couch.

"ED, theriouthly. I'm not kidding. Rithe and shine."

Sollux leaned down and hook his fists into Eridan's shirt. He tugged harshly, shaking Eridan's whole frame.

Eridan's eyes flew open. His gaze was hazy and unfocused, although his irritation didn't fail to show through. "Wwhat the hell, Sol? I'm tryin' to sleep!" he slurred. His voice was thick, and his words scratched over Sollux's ears.

"You need to get dreththed and make yourthelf thomewhat attractive. It'th almotht four," Sollux snapped irritably.

Eridan turned his face into the pillows and let out a huff of annoyance. "It's Saturday, Sol. Wwe don't havve anywwhere to go an' I can sleep for howwevver long I wwant."

Sollux paused. He tried to keep the guilty expression from sitting on his face. "Uh, funny thing," he began. "We're going to dinner."

It took less than a millisecond for Sollux to realize what his words had just implied. He noticed the hopeful, yet shocked, look in Eridan's eyes, and he noticed the way Eridan almost leapt from the couch and to the shower.

"With my mom," Sollux blurted. Trying to fight off a blush, he sent a nervous gaze toward Eridan. "She invited me over, and it'th been forever thinthe I went to thee them."

Eridan's face had morphed from hope to one of unreadable emotion. Sollux was sure that whatever Eridan was feeling he was definitely hiding it. "Alright I guess," he conceded. "Do wwe get to eat something besides ramen and honey?"

Sollux scoffed at Eridan. "Yeah, she cookth shitty theafood jutht for you, ED. Becauthe that ith tho deliciouth."

"Glad you see it my wway, Sol. Maybe you're not as hopeless as I thought you wwere."

"You're tho full of it, I thwear."

It took a few more minutes of banter before Sollux was able to coax Eridan into getting off the couch completely. After he had finished shoving Eridan into the bathroom, Sollux made his way back to the living room. He began picking up the various blankets scattered about the room. There were multiple bottles of Mountain Dew and Cheetos bags strewn around, and he had to wonder just what they'd been doing last night.

He remembered watching Lord of the Rings. He remembered telling Eridan to shut up and that he would suffocate Eridan with his scarf if he didn't. He could remember Eridan throwing a Cheeto at him, and he could definitely remember having a contest to see whom could catch more Cheetos in their mouth than the other.

He didn't, however, remember chugging that many liters of Mountain Dew.

He didn't even drink Mountain Dew.

It didn't take long for he and Eridan to both grab showers. Sollux had finished getting dressed rather quickly. Unfortunately, Eridan was not that quick. He was still in the bathroom, most likely doing his hair, and singing obnoxiously.

"ED, c'mon!" Sollux called through the door. "We have to leave."

"Just one minute, Sol. I swwear, just because you don't try an' look attractive doesn't mean I can let myself go," Eridan's reply was muffled from the door.

"I don't have to work to be thith thexy and you know it," Sollux retorted. He paused a moment, letting his words sink in. "Now hurry up, I want dinner."

"I wwonder wwhy you're alwways actin' like you havve a stick up your ass," Eridan snipped.

Sollux huffed in frustration and flopped against the door. He crossed his arms, fixing a scowl onto the potted plant sitting next to the couch. "Jutht hurry up already. I'm going to grow a beard thoon."

The door was abruptly yanked open, and Sollux went sprawling backwards. He was cut off mid-shout as he collided into Eridan's unsuspecting figure, and the two of them went spiraling backwards. Thankfully, Eridan latched onto the door in an attempt to keep himself upright, stopping themselves from hitting the ground.

Sollux glanced up at Eridan, eyes wide. He pushed himself off of the other and attempted to straighten himself again. "The heck, ED?" Sollux snapped.

He knew it wasn't Eridan's fault. He knew that blaming Eridan could seriously piss the other off. He wasn't stupid. However, he'd rather be dead than be seen as an idiot in anyone's eyes. He hated when things were his fault, it was that simple.

Eridan simply rolled his eyes. He knew he was being blamed when he wasn't at fault; it was one of Sollux's favorite things to do. "Geez, Sol, I thought evven you wwould remember that your door opens inwward," he taunted.

Sollux fought the urge to roll his eyes. "Whatever, aththhole."

It wasn't long before the two of them were walking down the main street and towards Sollux's mother's house. They walked in silence, and Sollux found it all quite comfortable.

However, he wasn't able to rid himself of a feeling of dread that settled deep inside of him. He hated to admit it, but he was afraid. He had no idea how Eridan would react to meeting his family. He didn't know if Eridan would be accepting toward his mother and older brother; the subject of a family was still a bit sore for Eridan on account of his father.

He had no idea how Eridan would feel about the onslaught of questions that were sure to be directed toward him. He didn't know, and he hated not knowing.

"Hey, ED," Sollux began slowly. "If you get thick of them, jutht let me know and we can leave."

Eridan sent Sollux an amused glance. "Look, Sol, I'm sure it wwon't be that bad," he chided.

Sollux raised a suspicious eyebrow towards Eridan. "And why do you thay that?"

"No one is a bigger asshole than you are, I mean really."

Sollux rolled his eyes, but he was unable to keep the small smile from slipping onto his face. "If it helpth, no one ith a bigger douchebag than you are either," he pointed out helpfully.

He was rewarded with an indignant snort from the other beside him. "Howw am I a douchebag?"

"Your thcarf practically thcreamth douche-canoe. C'mon, ED," Sollux taunted. He was unable to hide the teasing grin that slipped over his lips as they walked.

Eventually, they had made it to his mother's house without killing each other. Sollux knocked on the door lightly, pretending to be casual. He pretended not to notice the way Eridan shifted uncomfortably, and the way Eridan's hands quickly brushed over his hair in a last attempt at looking presentable.

Sollux didn't have time to tell Eridan that he looked fine and having one hair out of place wouldn't kill him. The door had flown open, and his mother stood in all of her 5'2'' glory. She smiled brightly up at the two of them and quickly ushered them inside.

She continued talking, and talking, and talking, as they were led into the kitchen. Sollux slipped off his jacket, and snatched Eridan's before the other could protest to hang on the hooks in the hallway. He could hear his mother talking about the latest events, and he could hear Eridan sliding one of the chairs out to sit on.

He felt his stomache tighten with nerves. He was almost positive by now that Eridan would deem his family crazy and leave. Eridan would be frightened, and as soon as they'd return home he would demand to move out and never see Sollux again.

It took every ounce of courage to walk back into the kitchen to where his mother and Eridan were. However, he forced himself to do it, forced himself to take each step forward, because he knew there was no going back.

Despite his worst fears, Sollux was mildly surprised at the sight before him. Eridan was sitting at the island, chin propped in hand, and a small smile flitted across his face as he stared at Sollux's mother. His mother was laughing, simultaneously drying a few plates that had been sitting in the dish drainer. They seemed to be getting along.

Eridan didn't look like he was going to flee the country.

Sollux made his way inside of the kitchen and took a seat next to Eridan. He pretended not to notice the warm smile that Eridan sent him when he sat down. "Hey, Ma," Sollux greeted.

His mother turned to gaze at him, a wide smile set permanently on her face. "Eridan is just precious, Solly! Why haven't you brought him around before?" she boasted. She set down a cup of steaming hot tea in front of Sollux, and moved towards the coffee maker. "Eri, your coffee will done in a few. If I had known you liked coffee I'd have had some ready."

She liked him. She'd already given Eridan a nickname.

Sollux snickered slightly to himself. "Eri?" he quoted quietly.

Eridan smirked and shoved Sollux's shoulder. "Don't be so mean, _Solly._"

Sollux rolled his eyes but averted his gaze as a blush rose to his cheeks. He had been hoping Eridan wouldn't pick up on that.

It wasn't as bad as Sollux had thought it would be. He was glad he'd brought Eridan to dinner with him. His mother seemed to think Eridan was God's gift to the world, and he was glad when Eridan had mentioned how kind his mother was.

The feeling of dead in his stomache had now been replaced with a feeling of insatiable warmth.

"Oh gosh, it's getting late. You two stay here, I'm going to go out back and see if Tuna and his girlfriend are done playing," his mother announced. She wiped her hands on the edge of her apron and briskly walked out of the kitchen.

It was quite for a moment. "Wwho's Tuna?" Eridan asked confusedly.

Sollux sent a wavering smile towards Eridan. "My older brother."

Eridan gave him a questioning glance, but didn't say any more on the matter. His eyes skidded over the contents of the kitchen; the mismatching appliances, the painted cupboards, and the little trinkets in the shape of bees. It was obvious that Sollux and his family were anything but rich, and Eridan found himself wishing for a childhood a lot like this.

He loved the idea of a warm home and a loving mother that he could tell everything to. He loved the idea of sitting around the kitchen table and eating dinner together every night. He loved the thought of sharing the day's events and knowing that his mother would be there to help him with any problems he encountered.

It was at times like these that Eridan really missed his mother.

He decided not to think about what he could have had at the moment, and he instead opted to push away those thoughts. His gaze traveled to the refrigerator. It was decorated with many badly drawn pictures of skateboards and video games- things he'd expect from a home of two boys. However, the front of the refrigerator was what caught his eye.

There seemed to be multiple report cards hanging haphazardly down the front of it. All of them were hanging onto the white surface just barely with magnets and tape. He stared at the slips of paper, counting which ones he knew belonged to Sollux and which ones seemed to belong to the mysterious older brother.

He couldn't exactly place it, but something seemed entirely off to him.

"Hey, Sol," Eridan said absently. He never moved his gaze from the fridge. "Howw come there's only-"

"Sollux brought his friend over? How come I can't bring Tulip over then?"

Eridan's gaze was torn from the refrigerator and over to the tall boy standing in the doorway of the kitchen. His eyes quickly took in the dark mass of hair, the oversized striped shirt, and the troubled frown. If Eridan looked hard enough, he almost resembled Sollux. However, he seemed to give off a more child-like vibe, and Eridan was sure his personality was nothing like Sollux.

Sollux's mother smiled warmly in Eridan's direction. "Tuna, this is Eridan. He's Solly's new friend," she said.

Again, her voice seemed to throw Eridan off kilter. Her tone was different, something seemed off. Eridan believed he could almost detect a hint of sympathy, maybe worry.

He turned a questioning gaze to Sollux, and he was given no response from the other. Sollux's back was straight in the chair, and his hands clenched slightly from tension.

"Hith name ith Mituna. Not Tuna," Sollux ground out through clenched teeth.

Eridan offered a weak wave toward the boy, the smile never leaving his face. "Hello," he said politely. "I'm Eridan."

The smile that bloomed across Mituna's face seemed to light up the room. Eridan was sure that if he were to ever see Sollux smile, and he meant really and truly smile, it would have the almost same effect as Mituna's did.

Mituna waved back broadly and took his seat across from the two of them.

The rest of dinner passed by rather quickly. For the most part, Sollux was silent and said nothing. His face was drawn, and he was receding into himself at an increasing rate. He had forgotten about Eridan having to meet Mituna. He had forgotten about the fact that his older brother wasn't actually his older brother anymore, and he forgot that trying to explain something like that usually left him in tears. He forgot that Eridan would have to interact with Mituna and be offended that there was something wrong with him. He'd forgotten about all of it, and now everything was coming back to bite him.

Thankfully, though, Eridan and his mother continued talking about a variation of things. She pestered him constantly about where he'd gotten his hair done, what he liked to do, if he was friends with Karkat, why he was friends with Sollux in the first place, how they met, and what he wanted to do with his life. Surprisingly, Eridan answered all of these questions with ease.

Sollux noticed how Eridan carefully avoided talking about his career and his family. He noticed the small twitch of Eridan's hand when his mother brought up "possibly knowing your parents." He noticed the smooth lie that stumbled out of the other's lips that claimed they had moved here only recently, and that she probably wouldn't know them because of the country they were from.

All of this then preceded his mother gushing about her love for Eridan's accent. She pointed out that his voice was rare, and she was surprised to have never heard such an accent before.

Sollux couldn't tell if she was lying or not. He definitely knew Eridan's accent had to be fake; there was no such thing as an accent that had a weird quirk for w's.

Eridan seemed to take it all in stride, however. He smiled and laughed and conversed back and forth with Sollux's mother. It was almost a second nature to him, and Sollux couldn't help but wonder what had happened to Eridan's mother.

Eventually, they were walking back to their apartment. Eventually, it was all over, and Sollux could go back to pretending like he didn't have an older brother that didn't act like his older brother.

As they were about to cross the street, a cold hand wrapped itself around Sollux's hand and tugged him backwards. He glanced up at Eridan questioningly. "What?" he asked. His voice was harsh and bitter, like he knew what was coming.

Here it was. This was the moment Eridan would tell him his family was ridiculous and that he wanted no part in it. This was the moment he'd been waiting for all night.

Eridan shifted awkwardly, but he never loosened his grip on Sollux's hand. "Your brother," he began slowly.

Sollux could feel his heart in his throat. He was ready to puke, to cry, to do whatever it would take to make himself feel better.

"Wwhy is it you havve more report cards on the fridge than him?" Eridan asked. "I mean, sure, you wwere pretty good in science, but no offense, Sol, you sucked at evverythin' else."

Sollux swallowed the lump in his throat and glanced away from Eridan. "Thothe were the only report cardth he had."

"Wwhat do you mean?" Eridan tilted his head in confusion.

Sollux huffed, attempting to keep the stinging in his eyes to a minimum. "He never finished thchool," he said flatly.

"Wwhy?" Eridan's voiced seemed even more confused than before.

"He had a head injury when he wath twelve.


	10. Chapter 10

Sollux could remember everything.

He remembered the old Mituna, the older brother he so desperately aspired to be. He remembered the intelligent boy who always did his homework, always received perfect grades, always smiled, and always had a skateboard in his hand. Mituna was one of the cool kids, and having him as an older brother only upped Sollux's status among the other fifth graders.

Mituna had always wanted three things from life. He'd wanted to be an anthropologist when he grew up, a professional skateboarder, and he wanted "the ladies".

Sollux remembered walking home from school, Gameboy clasped tightly between small hands, and listening to Mituna talk about everything. Sometimes he'd talk about insects, or any new type of bug that was recently discovered in whats-it-ran. Sometimes Mituna would talk about the girl he had a major crush on, Tulip is what he called her, and that he planned on asking her out next time they went boarding; although, he never did because he chickened out last minute. Sometimes he would talk about skateboarding, or teaching Sollux sometime.

Most of all, Mituna liked to talk about the world. He was a very observant person. He liked to talk about different sayings, and he preferred to spend the rest of the walk home talking about his theories and why he had them.

Mituna also liked to talk about their parents.

"Do you think Ma wouldn't have started drinkin' if Dad was still around?" he'd ask.

Sollux would look up from his Gameboy, clutching the beeping machine so tightly between his hands that his knuckles turned white. "Yeah," he'd say quietly. He never had any response for those questions. He didn't fully understand them.

Sollux didn't know why his mother had taken a liking to drinking. He figured it was because of their father leaving, but he could never find her at a time when she was sober enough to ask her and receive a response. She wasn't home much, but Sollux was okay with it. He had Mituna.

He remembered everyone in his family constantly fawning over Mituna at reunions. He remembered Mituna refusing to get his hair cut, even when their aunt had threatened to drag him to the salon in a body bag. He remembered Mituna showing Sollux how to code his very first lines, including variables and every other trick known to coding. He remembered Mituna asking for a beehive for Christmas. He remembered Mituna's boycotting phase, when he refused to buy a certain type of honey because of harsh treatment to the bees.

He remembered Mituna hated to be called "Tuna."

"Ma, I ain't a type of fish. I'm Mituna."

"Oh, c'mon, Tuna! It's cute!"

"Maaaa, stop."

He knew everything about Mituna.

It only took less than a millisecond for him to know nothing about Mituna.

They had been at the skate-park. Mituna had demanded that he teach Sollux how to skateboard, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. So, in response, Sollux had gone with Mituna that morning to learn how to skateboard and, hopefully, not get himself killed.

Of course, Sollux was terrible at skateboarding. He naturally had no athletic ability; he was the scrawny kid with glasses and a lisp, how could he have any chance at a sport. He was the boy who fell up the stairs. He had no balance, and skateboarding was definitely not for him.

Mituna insisted they didn't give up. "C'mon, Sollux. At least try," he huffed. "You can do it."

Sollux leveled him with an irritated gaze. "I'm altho the Queen of Sheba," he snipped.

Mituna grinned and slapped him on the back of the head affectionately. "Just do it. I already showed you how."

Sollux cast a doubtful gaze down at his knee pads. "I don't think I'm cut out for thith. Really."

"I'll hide all the honey in the house."

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

"But I'll thtarve to death!" Sollux objected.

Mituna flashed a charming smile in his direction. "Guess you better show me some rad skills then, huh?" he teased.

And then Sollux was off, wobbling slowly down the side walk on top of a red and blue skateboard. He clutched onto his helmet tightly, his whole frame shaking with fear. He knew he looked ridiculous, moving at less than five miles per hour, and looking absolutely terrified.

He guessed if he was more of a risk taker, he'd love skateboarding. But Sollux liked solid ground, like solid facts; he hated feeling like he had no control. He could kind of see why Mituna like skateboarding, in a crazy sort of twisted way.

He could see Mituna liking the feeling of wind blowing any thoughts unrelated to this moment away. He could see Mituna falling in love with the speed, the freedom, the escape. It made sense; Mituna was always so responsible when he wasn't hitting on girls. Mituna was always the older brother, basically a father figure.

Unfortunately for Sollux, he hadn't been listening to the distant shouts behind him. He had been busy with staring down at the rickety skateboard.

He didn't hear Mituna's shouts of panic and worry. He didn't hear Mituna shouting for him to turn around before he reached the main road. He didn't hear the sound of loud plastic wheels on cement as Mituna pelted down the sidewalk after his little brother.

He didn't see the trees that lined the skate-park thinning out with each turn of the wheels. He didn't see the exit signs that inevitably led to the main road. He didn't see his brother peeling down the sidewalk at top speed.

He didn't see the eighteen-wheeler thundering down the main road that laid at the end of the park boundaries.

He heard the loud blare of a car horn. He heard the shouting voice, much like Mituna's, right next to his ear, telling him to "fucking move."

He felt himself shoved forward, into the ditch of the other side of the road. He felt the skateboard fly out from under his feet. He felt his back connect with the ice cold ground and the breath leave his lungs.

He saw Mituna was right behind him.

He saw the edge of Mituna's skateboard be clipped by the side of the large truck.

He saw Mituna fly over where he lay on the ground. He saw the wide look of fear in his brother's eyes. He saw the outstretched arms, bracing themselves for the inevitable impact that awaited.

He heard the impact as Mituna collided with ground, a sickening crack and a whoosh of breath.

Mituna hadn't been wearing a helmet.

He'd given his helmet to Sollux.

Sollux was sure there had been a time lapse without his knowledge. Suddenly, he was being loaded into the back of an ambulance. Suddenly, he felt an oxygen mask being pressed harshly over his face, and he felt himself being lifted onto a gurney.

He heard the wail of sirens, the flow of words of a million questions being directed at him. He wanted to tell them to ask Mituna, that Mituna would explain everything. He wanted to yell at them that he was fine, Mituna was fine.

He saw the flash of red lights. He saw the disgustingly yellow stripes wrapping around the ambulance, proudly announcing that help had arrived. He saw the flash of red and blue lights. He saw the faces of strangers peering over him with concerned and analytical eyes.

Suddenly, he saw his mother. He saw her disheveled hair, pulled tightly into a bun. He saw the tears flowing freely down her face and the phone clutched tightly in her hand as she sprinted forward. He saw the mascara running down her face and the wild look of fear.

But she wasn't running toward Sollux. He wanted to call out to her, tell her she was running in the wrong direction. He wanted to tell her that he was right here, he was okay, she could stop worrying.

Suddenly, he saw where his mother was running. Suddenly, he wished he was blind.

He saw Mituna, or what he assumed was Mituna, surrounded by paramedics. He saw a large oxygen mask much like his own strapped over his face. He saw Mituna's usually dandelion-like hair matted close to his head with a dark substance that he desperately hoped was syrup and not blood. He saw a large cut stretching across Mituna's face, and he saw arms and legs bent at an odd angle.

He heard his mother wailing and sobbing uncontrollably. He saw her screaming in frustration and demanding to know whether or not Mituna would be okay.

She didn't once ask what had happened.

She wanted to know that Mituna was alright.

Suddenly, there was another time lapse. Suddenly, he was sitting in a room. The room was large and white, and it seemed as if the original intention had been designed for a lack of color. The only sign of life was a small potted plant which, upon further inspection, wasn't alive at all because it was fake. Rows of chairs lined the walls, and people scattered themselves around by sitting in the quietly.

No one spoke. Only the sounds of a murmuring television and a beeping heart machine could be heart distantly in the other rooms, minus the occasional cough. Every now and then, an announcement would sound over the intercom, but no one had a clue what "Code Orange, room 201-B," meant unless they were a doctor or nurse.

But Sollux listened anyway. He wasn't sure what he was listening for. Part of him didn't even know what was going on, or why he was even there. He listened anyway. He knew how to code, but he didn't know anything about hospital coding. He decided that whatever the codes meant, they weren't fun or relaxing like the coding he did at home.

He decided the coding must have meant something bad.

So he listened. He strained his ears for one number and one letter. He didn't know why he was listening, because he was sure that he definitely didn't want to hear it. However, he listened, if only to reassure his self that what he was listening for would never be called.

This time, time didn't lapse. In fact, it seemed as if time had ceased altogether. It felt like Sollux wasn't there anymore, he was simply watching. Time no longer was an aspect of his life; it didn't affect him.

Suddenly, Mituna wasn't Mituna anymore.

Suddenly, Mituna didn't get good grades anymore. At first, his teachers attempted to go easy on him; he had been in a coma for three months, the least they could do was give him a bit of a break. Eventually, they were forced to give him a failing grade for his performance on tests. Some insisted they not fail him, some insisted he be put into special education.

The boy who was once on the road toward being valedictorian was now in special education and barely scraping by.

Suddenly, Mituna wasn't the cool older brother. Mituna's old friends, skaters and normal peers alike, discovered this fact within five minutes of talking to the once popular boy. Mituna wasn't the same, so he was no longer cool. Mituna was now the older brother with a terrible head injury, and, instead of being admired among his peers, Sollux was now given sympathetic glances everywhere he went. He heard the whispers about his brother when he walked in the hallway, he heard them even more so at lunch. He even heard the teachers talk about Mituna, and even the teachers tried to raise Sollux's grade of a C to a B out of condolences.

The boy who was talked about as "that cool skater dude," was now "that boy with the head injury."

Suddenly, Mituna didn't care about being called Tuna. He let mom call him Tuna anytime she wanted, and he even preferred the name at times. He responded to Tuna more often than he did to his actual name. Mituna didn't care if his mom would fawn over him and call him Tuna in front of his friends, because he liked the nickname now.

The boy who used to be so adamant about being called by his real name no longer knew the difference between his nickname, and Mituna.

At first, Sollux didn't feel bad about it. At first, Sollux didn't even understand what had happened to Mituna. He didn't understand why Mituna was so different now.

At first, Sollux couldn't find it in himself to have any emotions. They seemed to have fled from him. He didn't feel angry, or depressed, or scared, or frustrated, or happy, or even mildly content. He felt nothing.

No, that wasn't quite true. Sollux did feel something if he tried digging deep enough.

He felt empty.

Hollow.

Sunken.

Vacuous.

That was at first.

It took about two months before the insults reached him; the snide and snarky comments that slipped out of the students' mouths and flew to his ears tauntingly.

He had been sitting in math class, working on one of the problems the teacher had put up on the board. He hadn't been listening really, he'd been thinking. All Sollux really did anymore was think, and he especially liked to think during school so no one could bother him.

Then he heard it.

"I heard his brother was retarded or something."

"Yeah, he's a window licker now. Used to be real smart 'til Sollux caused him to have an accident."

"What happened?"

"Got hit by a car or something, I dunno. He's definitely retarded though."

"Wonder if his little brother is too. Wouldn't be surprised."

Sollux didn't think it would bother him as much as it did. Nothing had bothered him for the past two months, why should people talking about his brother bother him now?

But now, he couldn't force away the sick feeling that settled deep within himself. His forehead and hands felt clammy, and he tasted bile in his mouth. He needed to leave, it was terrible.

They were terrible.

He was terrible.

Everything was suddenly so, very terrible.

It was from that moment onward that nothing would be the same. He knew it. He knew Mituna's accident had changed his whole life around. He knew the accident was what pushed Sollux so far back into his shell he had almost no chance of coming back out. He knew the accident caused their mother to start acting like a mother, to give up drinking. He knew the accident caused Mituna to lose everything.

He knew everything was partially his fault.

Sollux never took the blame for anything. He hated feeling guilty. He hated being blamed. He hated being at fault.

Because the one thing, the one occurrence in which he was found guilty, was the worst thing he had ever done throughout his whole life. He'd hurt the one he was closest to, practically killed him. He'd caused the one person he cared about the most, needed the most, to lose everything they had ever aspired to be or have.

And he told Eridan everything. He spilled out every last detail, every emotion, every concern, every last thought or encounter he had gone through. He held nothing back. The words flowed freely from him, worked their way through choked sobs and gasping breaths, and hung in the air like smoke in an enclosed room.

It was then he found himself curled in towards Eridan, eyes clamped shut, fists clenched together, arms snaked around broad shoulders, and face pressed into a soft material that could only be designer. He felt sobs wrack through his body in an irregular pattern.

But Eridan was there. He held Sollux closely, arms wrapped tightly around the other. He kept Sollux grounded, made sure he knew he wasn't alone, that Eridan was there. He drew small circles on Sollux's back as a means of comfort. He whispered quietly over and over that he was there for Sollux, that it was okay, that Sollux would be alright.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Sollux felt himself believing those words. He felt himself believing what Eridan was saying. He felt the shell he had worn for so long slowly cracking, crumbling to pieces. He felt the walls tumbling downwards. He felt himself falling and spiraling downwards fast than the speed of light.

Strangely, he found himself okay with this fact.

And suddenly, time stood still. Everything stopped. For just that one moment, in that small space of time, it was the two of them. It was just them, curled up on the couch and clutching each other tightly.

"Hey, Sol?"

"Yeah?"

"Wwhatevver happens, wwe'll alwways havve eachother, right?"

Then Eridan had murmured his name. He said it so quietly that, at first, Sollux was sure he had been imagining it. Eridan had said his name a second time, a bit louder, and fully gained Sollux's attention.

Sollux pulled back from Eridan's tear-stained shirt. His eyes were puffy, his face red, and he was sure he looked like a character out of a horror movie. "Yeah?" he croaked.

Suddenly, Eridan had shifted Sollux closer. Suddenly, one of his hands had removed themselves from around the other's waist and was placed precariously on the side of Sollux's face. Eridan's gaze shifted, no longer portraying concern, but something entirely unknown to Sollux. His eyes were lidded, and his Bambii-like lashes framed perfectly dark blue eyes.

"Hey, Sol."

Sollux's eyes pierced into Eridan's questioningly. He couldn't bring himself to speak.

Eridan took a deep shuddering breath, and let it out slowly. "I lovve you."

It had taken less than five months, but it had happened. It sounded unreasonable, irrational, but every part of those three words was completely true.

"I love you too, aththhole," he whispered.

There it was again, the same feeling. Static hung between them, just as it had back whenever Sollux had lost his glasses at work. It was odd, like the calm before the storm, and it was extremely tangible in every sense of the word. Sollux knew Eridan felt it, he had to. Every part of him was completely and suddenly aware of Eridan; his closeness, his eyes, his heartbeat, his breath, everything.

Suddenly, Sollux felt extremely aware of himself as well. He felt the increase of his pulse. He felt his heart pounding and threatening to jump from his chest. He felt sweat gathering at the base of his neck. He felt his eyes widening in shock. He felt everything, and suddenly wanted to feel everything.

A small tug, with barely enough force for the other to even register its appearance, and Sollux was there. The distance between the two of them closed, and everything stopped.

There weren't fireworks. There weren't sparks.

There was safety. There was a feeling of exposure; raw and bare and on display for the other to see with nothing in the way. There was static, like a drug, intoxicating.

Suddenly, the distance between them closed; a soft brush of lips, a harsh nip, a hiss of breath. Everything suddenly felt right in the world. Each insecurity seemed to fade with each brush of the lips. Every ailment disappeared with every desperate tug in an attempt of closeness. They were no longer Eridan and Sollux, nor Sollux and Eridan.

Finally, like all good things coming to an end, they returned to reality. They returned to who they were, no longer one person.

However, Eridan didn't move away. They stayed in that same position, foreheads pressed together, breaths leaving in quick short pants.

A small smile curved across Eridan's lips, and an amused look colored his gaze.

Sollux quirked a small smile back at Eridan. "What?" He heart seemed to be fluttering against his ribcage, slamming around in an attempt to escape.

"I wwas just thinkin', Sol," Eridan began slowly. "You really havve me…" He trailed off his words, a smirk fitting onto his face.

Sollux scowled at him, more irritated than angry. "What ith it, ED?" he huffed.

"I wwas just goin' to say, Sol, you really havve me… _Captor_vvated."

He had never hit someone so hard in his life.

THE END


End file.
